Soul of Steel
by LordKronosBG
Summary: Soon after the Tenroujima group returns Fairy Tail is contacted to return a magical artifact hidden in a world deprived of magic. Confident that this would be an easy highpaying assignment the mages head there believing themselves to be virtually unbeatable. But where there is no magic , the terrors born of science lay in wait.
1. Prologue

Prologue

It was surprisingly quiet in Fairy Tail. Everybody had a serious face. The few words shared amongst the guildmembers were whispered. This tranquility was brought by Makarov. Earlier he had a couple of important businessman coming over to discuss a possible highpaying job. The Master had threatened the guild that if their chaotic nature scared of the moneybags he would impose on them the worst punishment game he could ever think of. Makarov was hoping this job could bring Fairy Tail out of the slump it had fallen into after the Tenroujima incident. Even though they had left an hour ago , seemingly pleased , the guild couldn't get back to normal. It was like a disease. Many were simply staring at the door , waiting for something to happen to bring them out of this trance.. And they didn't wait much longer. Natsu kicked the door open and before he could say anything Gray blasted him with his magic. And in a second the guild had gotten itself involved in an all out brawl.

Lucy entered after Natsu had gotten back inside and slowly made her way to the bar , sitting at her usual place nimbly dodging a few random attacks that were headed her way. She had gotten to the guild with the Dragon Slayer after he barged inside her apartment while changing. Without having to say anything Mira gave Lucy a glass of water before going to refill Cana's drink. Several times she glanced over to the battle behind her. She had heard of the state Fairy Tail was in and was a bit disappointed she couldn't see how it was before Natsu barged in. Seeing as that even Erza was rampaging around the celestial mage was glad she didn't enter first. The first attack would have probably been aimed at her then. When Mira came back she smiled at Lucy.

'Good job today.'

Lucy knew well what she meant. The past several times she had gotten in the middle of one of their fights she had suffered some as well. After coming back from Tenroujima they had been very active about it. The first time she was bruised all over. Gradually getting better and better at dodging their random attacks this time she managed to get to the bar without a scratch on her.

'It is strange how a person can get used to anything. Even Natsu and the others appearing in my apartment at the worst times is not surprising to me anymore.'

'Well as often as it has been happening for you it was just a matter of time.'

'I am at the point where I feel weird if something like this does not happen. It is amazing how a human can adjust to pretty much anything. But I'll always kick Natsu or Grey out if they show up while I am changing.'

Mira just laughed at that. Before they could continue their conversation Makarov's voice echoed through the guild immediately stopping the fight.

'Natsu , Lucy , Gray , Erza , Wendy , Gajeel , Levy! In my office! Now!'

Before going back into his office , or what passed as one in the shed Fairy Tail was now using , he took a look around.

„And they were so quiet until now..."-were his thoughts as he entered his office

As soon as the Master was out of sight Erza caught both Gray and Natsu and pinned then against a wall.

'What did you two do!?' - she gave them her death glare

'Don't look at me! I have been at the guild the entire time. Ask Flame Brain here.'

'I didn't blow up anything...I think...'

'Go easy on them Erza.' - Lucy walked to them - 'Master asked for us all. I doubt it is about any trouble. After all Levy was called as well.'

'I suppose you are right...There is no way Levy could do anything to make the Master mad.'

Everyone in the guild nodded to that.

'Somehow I feel offended by that...'

'You are just too nice to be bad shrimp . Gajeel smirked at her'

Silently the group entered Makarov's office followed by the three Exceed. There were enough chairs for everyone and they sat down in front of him.

'What is this about Master' - Erza asked - 'If one of them had..'

'Nothing like that Erza.' - Makarov gave her a smile - 'You know that some businessman came earlier right?'

Everyone except Natsu and Lucy nodded. They had only heard the rumor of the guild being unnaturally quiet.

'They were discussing offering us a really high paying job. The reward is...ten million jewels for the guild and half a million for everyone who goes on it! And I have chosen you nine for it!'

The mages did not say a word. Half a million jewels each. It was almost too good to be true.

'Just how dangerous is this job?' - Lucy asked even though she didn't want to hear it.

'Actually it is going to be easier than most of the jobs currently available downstairs.'

'Then why is the reward so high? And why us?' - Levy pondered.

'Are you familiar with golems?'

'Giant magically enchanted constructions that are found guarding ancient tombs?'

'Yes Lucy. They are very powerful but there is little known on how they were made in the first they serve another purpose besides guarding tombs? A certain corporation has found the secret how to create them. All they need is a certain magic stone to finish the process. One that has been lost several hundred years ago but they have found it's location. All you need to do is retrieve it.'

'And where is it hidden?'  
'Apparently in another world. They came to us thinking we would be one of the few guilds who would believe such a thing. And I chose you because you have experience in these matters. You have been to that world Edolas after all.'

'What can we expect there?' - Erza crossed her arms.

'Absolutely nothing dangerous. It is a world completely deprived of any magic. It was used in the past as a vacation spot. Even if there is some opposition they have no magic at all. It should be a cakewalk'

'If it is that simple why are they paying so much?'

'Traveling to another world is not something that one should take lightly. No matter what world. And in the end they will make a fortune from the golems themselves.'

'Excuse me...but I was not there in Edolas.' - Levy raised her hand

'The stone is sealed in a rune prison. You are the only one capable of breaking them as Freed is not currently here.'

'I see.'

'So do you accept the mission?'

Everyone nodded in approval. Makarov gave Erza three stones and a map. The stones would open a portal leading into the world in question. A world deprived of any magic that was used as a vacation spot in the past. A simple quick and easy mission that would get them a lot of money and it would bring Fairy Tail back to it's feet. Everyone in the group was excited to start.

A single man was running through a scorched land desperately holding onto his sidearm. Everywhere he turned , he could only see towers of spires that were once buildings. Barracks , messhall , hangars. One of the best supplied bases in the republic. Home to hundreds of planes , helicopters and tanks. Garrisoned by close to three thousand soldiers with him as their commanding officer. And all was gone in less then fifteen minutes. There was no warning. Just the alarm going off at the shut down of all anti missile defences. And then came the fire. Most of the garrison never managed to leave the sleeping quarters and the ones who were at their station were not able to handle what had come. And then he saw it. In the middle of the inferno. Even though the flames the commander could see that it was staring at him. The heat doing nothing to mark those cold blue eyes. The only visible trait he could see. One that he had seen on so many reports.

'The...Destroyer...'

He was never able to lift up his sidearm as the figure in the flames raised a large cannon it was holding in it's left hand. A single red beam left it which melted skin and bone leaving nothing behind of the bases renowned commander.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I know I should be working on We're a Team but while looking through my hard disk I found my old notes. And among them was this story. I had completed a lot of it and while I was reading I revised a few parts , others I completely rewrote , added new things and in the end I decided to just finish it. I hope you enjoy the story :)


	2. Chapter 1 The Dead City

**Chapter 1 : The Dead City**

The Fairy Tail mages were walking through the woods near Magnolia. The portal stones couldn't be opened in the city because it would attract too much attention. Everyone was still in high spirits , besides Erza. Makarov had specifically instructed her not to bring her luggage on this mission and for the first time she was going on a mission with just a small handbag.

'Don't worry so much Erza-Lucy turned to her-Master said that this job could be over in a few hours.'

'But what if we run into a situation where we need something more then what we currently have? I could barely pack anything into this.'

Nobody answered her. This was something Erza would never change her mind about. But there was no way they could travel without raising suspicion if she brought all her luggage like usual. It was better off if the people of that world did not notice them at all. For that they were wearing their most normal clothes. Hopefully the fashion there would not be that different. Even Erza would have to set aside her armor after they went there.

'More importantly are we sure we won't have any problems with our magic? We had to take that weird pill when we were in Edolas.

Erza gave Gray a slight glare for making her point of view seem pointless. But it was a direct order from the Master and there was nothing she could do about it.

'Well there haven't been any problems in the past.' - Levy was reading a book about the world they would be traveling to – 'Saying that it is deprived of magic is not quite correct. The people there simply cannot use magic as we do. At least that is what it says here.'

They reached a large clearing and Erza placed one of the crystals on the ground. After a little while it cracked into small pieces which began to fly around forming a circle in the air. Through it they could see a completely different scenery.

'By the way.' - Grey turned to Erza – 'Why were we given three of those?'

'One is a spare. This is a bit of an unstable spell. If the stone is damaged too much before use the portal will violently suck in everything crushing it while it passes through. They gave us three just in case something happens to one of them.'

'That sounds really bad...'

'Well for such a large price there was bound to be some danger. But don't worry. These things are hard. Unless you intentionally want to break it , it won't be damaged so easily.'

When the last one passed through the crystal shards vanished. Levi took a look at a map Makarov had given them.

-That must be the mountain from the map. So the vault should be in that direction.

The organisation had done a lot of research. The portal took them as close as possible to the location the stone was believed to be buried . It should be just a couple of hours walk to the area. Apparently the stone's seal prevented them from appearing nearer. As it was supposed to be far away from any major settlement , if they were lucky , they wouldn't meet another soul. But many things could have changed since the last magician had entered this world. They were about to start walking , but stopped when they noticed the three dragon slayers looked perplexed .

'What's wrong?' - Lucy turned to them

'The air smells bad.' - Natsu quickly answered

'What do you mean bad?'

'Don't know. Just doesn't smell right'.

'And the clouds.' - Wendy looked at the sky - 'They seem...unnatural. '

'You know this could just be normal for this world. Wasn't it similar in Edolas for you guys?'

'Wasn't anything like this Shrimp. But you might be right.'

The group started to move but were more cautious then they thought they would be. Indeed those clouds looked wrong. They were dark , but it was obvious that they were not rain clouds. They couldn't see the sky at all. This made it hard to determine whether it was day or night . The trees themselves seemed devout of life. No leaf could be seen on them. But it was too hot to be close to fall. If anything it felt like the middle of summer. Sometimes when they stepped on grass , it turned to dust. It was as if something had killed the land. It didn't take dragon slayer senses to know that it was definitely not natures work.

'What could have happened here?'

'I have no idea. But I suggest we hurry.' - Erza equipped her standard armor – 'The less time we spend here the better.'

Nobody disagreed with her and they picked up their pace and when they reached the area where the rune prison that held the stone was supposed to be they froze. The book described the area as a land of heaven. Beautiful large trees , a huge pond with just a small temple in the middle where the entrance to the underground vault , which was their target , was. But what the Fairy Tail mages saw was the largest city they had ever seen. It made Magnolia look like a small village. There were thousands of buildings. The ones on the outer edge were usually one – two stories tall with yards around them. But the further in they saw they rose higher and higher. Never before had they seen building so tall. There was hardly one that looked exactly the same. And they were placed orderly forming streets and much larger pathways that could easily let several rows of magic fourwheelers. Actually the dragon slayers could see several vehicles that looked similar to the ones used in their world. Even from far away it looked impressive and somehow threatening.

The closer they got to the city the stranger it seemed to them. From far away they didn't see any sign of people. Thinking back they hadn't encountered a single animal on the way either. And here the land looked even worse then the area they had appeared in. After a few more steps Wendy suddenly stopped and clapped her hands together. Each member of the group then became surrounded by what looked like a liquid.

'Wendy what is this?' - Erza looked over her arm and how the liquid moved with her

'The air here...how did I not notice it earlier...'

The other two dragon slayers suddenly understood what she meant.

'It's poisoned...the air is poisoned...'

'What!? Are we...'

'It was much weaker back there...if it was like this we would have been dead already. This spell will keep us safe , as long as the poison level does not increase too high.'

Now that they were inside the city they couldn't look at the buildings at all. From far away they had looked imposing and somewhat glorious. A feat of engineering to create such tall structures. But it was a disaster. Every single window was broken , cracks in most walls. Some building were threatening to fall. And if that happened it would lead to a chain that would destroy most of the city. It almost felt like a death trap. Even if these tall buildings were not in danger of collapsing now that they were under them the mages felt crushed by them. It was depressing.

'By the way.' - Lucy stopped – 'How are we going to find that temple?'

'The records say it used to be in the northeast part of the valley. Since the people of this world had no way to break the rune prison it the underground vault the stone will still be there even if they did excavate it. It will take longer to find then we thought though. It is a shame I did not bring my digging equipment.'

She cast them an annoyed look at which they flinched a bit even if they were not to blame for the master's directions. The group made their way to the northeast. They had mentally prepared themselves to spend several days looking for the area that the temple was. But it only took them a few minutes after entering the area. To their surprise it was still standing , surrounded by a wooden wall. A piece of land untouched by the city's rise. There was a sign in front of the gates that led inside , but even if it was in a language they understood , the writing was beyond recognisable. But judging by the stands with what looked like souvenirs , the temple was a tourist attraction.

The temple itself was was not that impressive. It was small and could only hold about twelve people at once. It looked like what a small old religious society might use for prayer. Four obelisks in front of the entrance. The symbols on them long destroyed by the passage of time. Stone walls and a half broken in roof. Glass had been placed where the stone was broken to keep the rain out , but that was now shattered as well. Inside it was setup as a complete tourist trap. There was no way that that furniture was part of the original temple. An attempt at a restoration. What grabbed their attention was a hole in the middle of it. Once there had been a hidden door there , but the ground around it had ruptured and that door had most likely fallen below. There was signs that probably told people to stay back but that was of no concern to the mages. There was a single rope that allowed them to travel below. Unless this was the way people travelled from floor to floor in this world this area was definitely off limits to the general populace.

Although the book referred to this as an underground vault in truth it only held the stone they were after. Why it was brought here in the first place was not said. The hole entrance led to a tunnel that opened up to a large clearing. A stone bridge connected the tunnel to an island surrounded by a huge chasm. The stone was supposed to be on an altar in the middle , but to their surprise it was not there. Levy immediately went to it.

'The rune prison is still up.'

'Then how come it is missing?' - Lucy went next to her

'Look. The entire island is tilted compared to the entrance...My guess is that over the years this islands supports must have eroded tilting it. And the stone simply...fell outside the rune prison. Whoever designed these runes never thought about something like this occurring.'

'So what you are saying is...It may have fallen down below?'

Everyone looked down the chasm. They could not see the bottom from the darkness. Natsu prepared to send down a fireball but Erza immediately and harshly stopped him.

'They said that the stone is fragile to magic. If it is down there and you hit it we won't get the reward!'

'How are we going to get down there anyway?' - Lucy leaned in further 'Looks very deep.'

'Me and Charla can just fly down there.'

'I wouldn't recommend it. The book says that this chasm is some sort of trap , but it doesn't say what kind. To be honest half the things here may be just speculations and crazy ideas.

'We should be careful then. Well I did bring ropes but...I wonder if they will be enough. Well we might as well try...'

Erza was cut short by a call from the other side of the tunnel. Gray and Wendy had remained outside to watch out for trouble. They didn't expect anything to happen in this deserted city , but it didn't hurt to be careful. Now he was calling them to come. When they climbed the rope and stepped outside Grey was staring at the sky.

'What's the matter?'

'A minute ago I saw something small fly above us.'

'And then I heard something coming our way.'

'Something?'

'It almost sounds like wheels. And footsteps coming up behind them. Around twenty people total.'

Gajeel nodded at that.

'They'll probably be here in a few minutes.'

Natsu and Gajeel's hearing was sharper compared to Wendy's. Probably because they were older. It seemed this city was not as abandoned as they thought.

'So what do we do Erza?'

'I know that we are supposed to keep a low profile , but we have been seen. The people coming may know something of use to us. I know it may be a bad idea but I want to talk with them.'

After roughly five minutes an armored jeep followed by twenty people in yellow hazard suits stopped close to the city's one and only tourist attraction. The old temple of worship to whatever god corporal Maren did not care to know. One fo the drones had seen two people standing in front of it. His squad was closest and was ordered to investigate. Another wild goose chase. They had cleared the city several times already since coming. No mutants , injured or survivors from their attack. Probably some clothes that had flown and confused the drone's sensors like last time. Still orders were orders and he was proud to call himself the most trustworthy corporal in the Kaserid assault forces. Only he and his driver were riding in the jeep. The backseats were filled with extra oxygen tanks should one of the soldiers's run out. But when he and his twenty man got to the temple he was terrified. There were indeed people standing in the open waiting for them. And what shocked him was that they were not wearing any protective gear at all. This close to the hitzone nothing should be able to survive for more then a minutes exposure. And what shocked him most , strange even to him why this had stuck in his mind , one of the women was wearing medieval styled armor.

When the strange vehicle stopped the one in charge , or at least who the mages thought was in charge as he was wearing a red suit compared to the others yellow ones , gave a signal with his right arm and the other twenty made a halfcircle around them , pointing strange metal objects at them. The leader stepped out of the car pointing a smaller onehanded version of those metallic objects at them. Erza tried to speak up first , but was interrupted.

'Code Farhen'

'What?'

„Not one of ours then."

There could have been some hidden units that he did not know about , but all Kaserid units under the princes command had to know the codes in case they met friendlies that were uninformed. They could still be with some of the other royal branches but even if they were it didn't matter. Unexpected survivors ,republic forces or other Kaserids. Anyone who did not know the codes was to be executed on the spot. The professor would determine how they were alive with no protective clothing afterwards.

'Kill them!'

Two thoughts passed through Erza's mind at that moment. One. They used the same language , or at least it was close enough to understand each other. The second was that waiting for them had really been a bad idea.

'Reequip!'

In a second she equipped her Adamantine armor and everyone stood behind her as the metal objects that the people were holding started firing at them. Although they looked different they acted exactly like the few guns in their world. Although none of the mages had seen ones firing that fast. The barrage did not last long. Worried , amazed and terrified sounds were heard from the people who attacked them. Of course. They had probably never seen someone transform their clothing so fast. Their weapon attacks had no effect on her armor. She could hear their leader calling them to circle around. Compared to his soldiers he was keeping his cool.

'I'll quickly knock them out!'

'Natsu stop!'

Erza stopped him before he could charge forward. It was not because of the enemy being able to harm him. They were still too stunned to fight. It was just that Natsu's attacks would probably damage their suits. They did not look that durable to her. And then the poison would harm them. She didn't want this worlds people to think of them as bloodthirsty invaders.

'Grey. Freeze them in place , but be careful not to damage their suits.'

'Got it. Ice Make! Prison!'

After he touched the ground in a second ice had formed over their attackers hands and feet preventing them from moving. Some of them were outright screaming now. The sight of two flying cats had helped bringing them to panic. Only their leader and his driver were unaffected standing atop their vehicle.

'Now then.' - Erza said as she reequipped back into her normal armor. - 'Can we talk peacefully?'

The helmet hid his face completely but judging from his shaking he was biting back anger. He tapped his ear and screamed while firing.

'Requesting reinforcements now! Level Primus! Mutagens detected.'

The fire from his weapon was much slower and each of them managed to dodge his random shots. Both him and his unarmed driver started to fall back. With a sigh Erza turned to Grey.

'Please.'

'Yeah yeah.'

Just as he was about to capture the other two the mages heard a noise from behind. Turning they saw five large bird like flying metal contraptions were headed towards them.

'It's that thing I saw earlier.'

Connected to both it's wings were weapons that immediately opened fire on the mages. They were even more rapid firing them the ones the soldiers were using. They barely had time to take cover behind the temple walls. After they passed above them Natsu destroyed two with direct fireballs , while Gajeel took down another two by jumping in the air and slashing with his iron sword.

'More soldiers are coming!'

'How many?'

'Can't tell. Too many footsteps. They are all around. That guy is commanding them to surround us!'

Erza took a look in the direction that the soldiers leader had retreated. Indeed he had his left hand pressed against his ear just like when he had called for backup. Not that she doubted Natsu's words.

'This is bad. We shouldn't stay here any longer. We'll fall back.'

The last of the Kaserid seeker drones was blown up by the blackhaired man who had surprisingly stripped his upper clothing in the middle of the battle. An ice bazooka had appeared in his arms and with one clean shot he had taken it down before it could open fire on them again. Unknown to them they were being watched. One of the few active cameras in the city was there and a man with glasses hidden in the shadows was watching them from far away. They had began to retreat. The last thing he saw before they had left the camera range was how the blackhaired girl had summoned the wind to knock over a jeep. Slowly he reached for his phone and dialed a number.

'The ones at the shrine. Bring them to me.'

Just making this call was a huge risk. Bringing them a probably greater one. But it was a risk he needed to take. These people could be the answer he was looking for.

Even with the dragon slayer's hearing the mages were barely able to dodge their pursuers attempts to trap them. They had no idea where they were going , while their commander was brilliantly focusing the soldiers to cut them off. No more flying contraptions appeared , but they noticed heavily armored vehicles with large cannons on them. Natsu and Gajeel were irritated that they couldn't fight back. But it was starting to look impossible to escape and fighting back was slowly becoming the only option. Erza turned to the dragon slayers but they shook their heads in unison. They were completely surrounded. It was strange. From meeting nobody to this. It must have been pure luck that they didn't meet anyone on the way to the temple in the first place. They could use a portal stone but it was doubtful that the organisation would give them others to try again if they fled so fast. Compared to the other possibility of fighting them under these conditions it did not seem like such a bad thing.

Before she could decide what to do she saw people from inside one of the nearby building waving them in. Like the ones pursuing them they were wearing similar fullbody suits but theirs were white.

'If you want to get away come with us.'

It did not take them long to decide that it was better off following them. Unlike the others those guys at least were not firing at them. Even if it was a trap , they would be able to fight their way out of it quickly with their magic. They entered the building and followed the one that called them as they went down a stairway into a basement. There were five of them and the fact that they were armed with similar weapons to the ones outside did not go unnoticed. Removing a large metal box they revealed a passage that led further down and ushered them in. There was a ladder for them to climb down and after three of them had gone on ahead the mages followed. The last two pulled the box over the passage entrance as they descended. It led to what looked like a sewer.

'We're below the actual sewers. Don't worry the kaserids don't know about them and have no patrols here.'

The mages had no idea what „kaserids" meant but the man probably thought that their confused stares were about the fact that these undersewers were not known to them.

'Old constructions. Only those that have lived in this city for a long time like me know that they exist. Now please follow me.'

They started walking.

'You used to live here?'

'All five of us.'

'Must have been a long time ago seeing the state above.'

'Long time? It's been a week since it's been like this.'

'A week?'

'Yeah. A week since they brought down that nuke on us.'

'Nuke?'

'Do you live in a cave or something? The Kaserid Dynasty declared war and their first move was to nuke our capitol. They were nice enough to give us half an hour to try and evacuate some of the citizens. Not that it was enough to do much...'

He looked them over. Letting out an annoying sigh he continued.

'Well looking at you you might actually really do live in a cave. And the radiation having no effect on you with no protective gear... Honestly I don't care. The kaserids don't like you and the prof wanted me to take you to him. That is all that interests me.

Without saying anything else he continued leading them through the undersewers.


	3. Chapter 2 The Destroyer

Chapter 2 : The Destroyer

General Alr Mendez of the Kaserid Dynasty was looking at the deployments of troops from the command chair in his room. Almost all the search parties were circling the area under Maren's command , but the supposed mutants had vanished. Feeling that the search had gone on too long he contacted the corporal.  
'Corporal.'  
'General. I am sorry I do not know how they...'  
'There is nothing to apologise for. Your command was flawless. Simply think of those people as rats. Rats know every hole through which they can pass through and our knowledge of the city is limited.  
'But the muta..'  
'I have seen what was visible from the drone footage and Harenfal does not believe them to be mutants. Do not forget that Forlox is with them. They were probably testing new anti radiation suits that do not restrict movement along with new weapons. And if that is really the case you will never find them. All units are to resume their patrols with increased vigilance. That is all for now.'  
Before Maren could say anything he cut the communication. He passed his fingers through his black hair. Tedious jobs like this were annoying for him. Just because he was the youngest general in the Dynasty it did not mean that he was the one who had to follow another's plan instead of making his own. Even if this attack plan was flawless he could not praise the prince who send them to perform it. It was after all that creatures idea and execution. Even if he hated the way they had brought the Arsein republic to it's knees , it was done in just a week. Soon he would leave this command centre to some of the corporals and continue on to other objectives. What was left of their government would not delay their surrender much longer. That is why he did not know why they send them fifty more nukes and that new project of Harenfal. This sad excuse for a war was nearly over.  
Mendez took a look at his console. A new message had just come in. To his surprise it was from the princes new favorite pet that had organised all this. It had just received a possible arsein transmission. And apparently had hacked one of the satelites that belonged to the princes sister to spy on the area from which it came from. If it was someone else he would scold him for doing it without his approval , but that thing always produced results that made any complaint of his nonexistent. He quickly tapped on the console his approval of the mission it had suggested. It looked like there would be a real battle in this war yet. The general got up and took his black and red trimmed cloak and headed for the main command module. His presence would be needed there to command the procedures. Even if he did not like it , he had developed some respect for that creature. It was after all the only one who was able to challenge him in chess.

They walked for a couple of hours until their guides let them above ground. They couldn't see the city from where they emerged. That undersewer went a long way. The only other thing that was said to them was that they were made as exits in case of a siege. That city apparently used to be a military base before. They could see tents in the distance and more of the heavily armored vehicles around the perimeter.  
'Refugee camp for the survivors.'  
Was all he said while leading them towards a large metal building. A huge round disk was atop it. Soon they were inside it , after passing through some chamber that sprayed them with a strange liquid that quickly evaporated. Wendy pointed out that apparently it would have gotten rid of any trace from that poison from their clothes if her spell had not prevented it from happening. Their guides still hadn't removed their outfits while leading them further in the building. They did not look easy to remove in the first place. After they entered a large room they stopped. There was a single man sitting in a chair with his back to them.  
'You are obviously not from around here.' - his voice was slow and calm  
'Well yes..'  
He raised a hand ushering her to stop talking.  
'Allow me to guess. You are not from this world at all are you? You are from Earthland I did you call yourself there...mages correct? And the reason you were at the shrine. A small rock yes? The colour of obsidian. Rectangular in shape.'  
The group was becoming nervous. His voices was starting to sound menacing.  
'How did you...'  
He slowly got up and they noticed he was a very old man leaning on a kane. Despite his age he still looked full of vigor.  
'So all my guesses were correct? Must be my lucky day. Ah I wish the lottеry was not suspended.'  
He smiled at them and pointed with his kane to several chairs.  
'Where are my manners. Please sit sit. I think we should have some time to talk. We both know something the other wants. My name is professor Aizak Forlox.'  
After they had seated themselves Erza spoke on.  
'How did you know we were mages?'  
'It is ancient history. Most of it lost. But if you look diligently enough , and have an open mind , you can find enough fragments to form a story. Though I don't believe this world used to be like a resort to your people. It would be a bit embarrassing for me.' - He saw they exchanged nervous glances – 'So that part was true after all. Anyone miss...'  
'Ah yes. We still haven't introduced ourselves.'  
After they all introduced themselves they continued their conversation.  
'Well it is normal to consider that some knowledge will remain in this world about us.' - Levi was looking around as she spoke – 'But how did you know what we were looking for? It was a secret in our world that it was hidden there.'  
'No. Unfortunately I have not found any literature , folklore , myth or even rumor about that stone. But I had it in my possession in the past. And I knew it came from there.'  
'Do you know where it is now?'  
Erza's rash question made him jump a little.  
'Well yes , but there are some complications...'  
A man who looked like an officer entered the room in a haste. Dressed in what probably went for military armor in this world. His helmet hid his his facial features , but the mages could see his eyes were sharp like a war veterans.  
'Professor. Kaserid forces are en route. They have found us.'  
'So he was able to track my communication after all...'  
'So these are the ones. I hope it was worth it.'  
'It may be Lieutenant. We will see.'  
'We don't have much time. I doubt we will be able to hold them off for more then twenty minutes.'  
'It will be more then enough time. Do not worry.'  
'Your reassurance...leaves me with little else to say. Then. Farewell for now.'  
'What did he mean? - Erza asked when that man had left  
'It means that when I contacted our good scouts to lead you to me , the Kaserids managed to track me here. Ou I suspected it would happen in the first place. Do not worry about it.'  
'Considering what he said...you are definitely calm.'  
'Because I have to get everyone out of here safely of course. And I was hoping you would come with me.' - He got up – 'There is much I would like to talk about. Of course you are welcome to remain here with them if you wish.'  
'No. I believe we will take you up on your offer.'  
Despite now acting like a friendly old man , this guy was sneaky. By making it sound like they had a choice , he showed them they had only one way out.  
'Then please follow me.'  
He led them through one of the other exits to this room. Their former guides followed them. They ended up in what looked like a laboratory. From there they could see the outside. There was a beautiful garden with many flowers that the mages had never seen. It looked tranquil and peaceful.  
'Disregarding some security issues I like working while looking at such a scenery. I hope you like it. I pride myself on my gardening skills.' - before they could say anything he gave each of them an armstrap - 'Please put this on your right arm. It has to do with our escape.'  
He sat in front of a large screen that flared up. Ion the screen there was a map with many dots on it. Some red , some blue.  
'It is worse then I thought. There are much more Kasarid forces then I thought there would be. I will need to work faster.'  
The map vanished and now the screen was filled with numbers and letter the mages did not know. Despite talking the same language it seemed their writing was completely different. He started typing at a keyboard in front of him with amazing at the map until it vanished Erza took a look outside. She could see the camp. The heavily armored vehicles had formed a perimeter far from the tents. The five man who had led them there were outside.  
'Is this where the battle will take place?' - she asked the one who had talked to them in the undersewer  
'Well yes.'  
She went back inside and walked to Forlox. He was no longer as calm as he was before.  
'The prediction you gave that man. Will you be able to succeed in whatever you are doing.'  
'If it was twenty minutes...yes. But their forces are too numerous. Much more then I thought they had here. And we lack heavy tanks.' - he did not slow down even while speaking  
'Will the civilians be safe?'  
'I hope so. But there might be casualties ...' - He saw that all of them were heading out. - 'What are you doing?'  
'We will go there to help.'  
'This is not your war mages. You know nothing of our world. For all you know we may be a dark empire that is getting it's just due.'  
'It is not about politics. We simply can't stand seeing such a thing. They lost their homes and now their lifes are in danger.'  
'That is my fault for...'  
'Bringing us here. You can't stop us. It would be best if you tell us where we would be most useful.'  
'I don't really know your strengths...' - he pointed at a smalled screen that still had the map on – 'We are here. Those of you who feel competent at front line battle go there. Long range will be best suited. It has been ages since any army has used swords and shields. There are medical tents there. If any of you are good at healing please head there.'  
Erza turned to Lucy and Levi and whispered to them.  
'I would like for you two to remain here. Whatever way he has of saving everyone here it relies on him. Please keep him safe. Also...keep an eye on him.' - she then turned to the professor. - 'We will insure you those twenty minutes.'  
'We will stay here to help guard you.' - Lucy turned to him  
'How reliable. I will be in your care then.'  
He started working again. Erza had told them to keep on eye on him , but they had no idea what he was doing in the first place.  
General Mendez was frowning at the reports form the initial engagement. Two people with unnatural abilities had appeared on the front lines. A man who could control ice , and a woman who apparently summoned swords out of thin air and launched them as projectiles. Their light tanks firepower was stopped by ice walls and the infantry pinned down by swords. Probing their defences with light troops had proven effective after all. He could now plan to engage these unforseen threats. The general was just not sure about the strange report of someone eating the soldiers weapons from the forces who tried to circle around the main battleline. Were those people they the same that Maren had engaged? He could not say. But there should have been more. Harenfal was next to him. The young professor did not look his thirty years. His head was already bold and he had wrinkles. An accident from five years ago had something to do with it , but the general never digged deeper. Harenfal had earned some privacy with his researches for the dynasty.  
'Heavy troops are to converge on area five. The swords are able to pierce light armor. Use only heavy third degree shields. Annihilator tanks are to provide support. All walkers to point seven. Demolish those walls. If you deem capture to be impossible on these abnormals , kill them on sight.' - he leaned back and moved a chess piece – 'So Harenfal. What do you think?'  
'Definetely not mutations. No random mutation could give powers like that. Genetic engineering perhaps?'  
'What do you think?'  
The general turned to the one responsible for finding their hideout. The way it stood in the shadows made it impossible to see. Something that Mendez was glad about. Those eyes unnerved even him.  
'Do you think Forlox has turned to genetic engineering?' - no answer came – 'Interested to go see them?'  
He didn't think it would answer him. The only thing that seemed to motivate that thing was Forlox himself. Unless he was sighted by their scouts it would do nothing. And then the report came. One of the scouts had seen him. That man was rumored to work close to his outside gardens. Made it easy to find his location. He turned to share the information with his chess opponent but it was already gone. Of course it was. Annoyed he noticed it left after checkmating him. His first defeat at this game.

Natsu was stomping the ground in anger. Erza had divided the four of them and somehow he had ended up the only one not doing anything. No enemy forces came this way. The professor had apparently given instructions for them not to be bothered by the defending soldiers and were allowed to do as they please. Happy and Charle were helping Wendy so he was alone and bored, One of the guys who looked like were above the rank of normal soldiers suddenly paled. He had seen them hearing orders from some piece of metal in their ears. If he concentrated he could hear what was said as well. Having nothing better to do he listened in.  
'The Destroyer has been spotted. Repeating. The Destroyer has been spotted. He is heading for the professor. All available units converge on the laboratory and hold him off!'  
He didn't worry about it much. Lucy and Levi were there after all. They could handle anything that had come from this world. But the way everyone had paled was weird.  
'Hey what is this „destroyer"?'  
'An unstoppable killing machine...The end of the world...'  
That was all he could get out of the officer. To think a soldier would freak out like that. Whatever it was , it wasn't even heading for this location. Even though he trusted Lucy and Levi something about all this made him worry and he started running back towards the laboratory. Nothing was going to happen where he currently was anyway.

Unopposed air space. Destination reached 4.5 seconds faster then estimated. Scanning area. Eight life signs detected Five in front. Armed with Type 4 rapidfirearms. Threat level – low. Commence attack.

Lucy and Levi were honestly bored. Watching him work was not the most interesting thing in the world , especially since they still had no idea what he was doing. Although it was incredible how fast he was typing. He would probably be able to write a book by using a machine in a day. The two female mages couldn't even talk to each other. They knew what he was doing was very important and didn't want to distract him. And they were worried about the ones fighting. Even if this world did not have magic the enemy was numerous. The laboratory must have been soundproofed because they could not hear the battle even though it was not that far away. But suddenly the quier tranquil spot they were in changed. In a second the beautiful garden had started to burn. Nodding to each other the two mages immediately stepped outside. There was no sign of the five men who had led them there. Looking to the air they saw a figure landing.  
It was unlike anything they had ever seen. It was completely armored , but the white armor looked like a single piece , not one forged of several pieces. Even Gajeel's iron scales did not look that much like a part of the body. In the left arm the figure carried a cannon. A large cable went from it's side and it ended into the figure's left elbow where it connected. On it's back he had a backpack from which fire was keeping him in the air. When it landed it retracted within the body. And it's face. The helmet's area of the mouth looked like a rebreather and it did not appear to have a nose. For protection the ones in their world which covered the face had small eye sockets to protect the eyes. But his were large covered with what looked like glass , and they were glowing a bright pure blue. In contrast to the raging fire around it , it almost looked like a fallen angel of death with it's wings gone. The figure looked at both of them and took a step forward. No sound was heard from it's movement. As if it was not wearing armor , but the armor was his body. And then it spoke. An impossible voice that had no emotion , no life. It was nothing human.  
'Two females. Unarmed. Checking biological data. Abnormal and underdeveloped body form. No genetic changes detected. Threat level. None.'  
His words annoyed them.  
'That guy is definitely looking down on us.' - Lucy pulled out one of her keys  
'And is outright insulting us.'  
'Shall we teach him a lesson? Gate of the Scorpion I open thee! Scorpio!'  
'Solid Script! Fire!'  
Upon appearing Scorpio launched a sand buster towards the coming opponent which merged with Levi's fire spell creating a small fire tornado. It hit straight and true knocking their adversary back. But to their surprise it did not even leave a scar on his armor.  
'Unknown element detected. Raising threat level to maximum.'  
Behind the two mages the professor was yelling.  
'Hurry! Finish him!'  
The armored figure started running towards them faster , then they thought a normal human could run while wearing a full set of heavy armor.  
'Solid Script! Hole!'  
The word „hole" fell to the ground in front of the charging enemy. It was small enough just to get his foot lodged in after which they would hit him with the fire combination again. But it did not work. Just as his foot was begging to sink he activated that backpack again and flew into the air. He aimed his cannon at Scorpio and fired. It was a long magma red pulse of energy. Right before it hit her spirit she was able to close his gate , but when the shot landed it caused a small explosion that knocked the two mages apart. The ground where it had hit was melted. Just as Levi got up the armored figure landed in front of her. His fist collided with her stomach with such force that she broke through the solid brick wall and the metal plating that was on the inside. He then turned towards Lucy and started walking towards her. Lucy could see that Levi was still breathing but it was unlikely she would get up after such a blow. This strength was beyond what a normal human was capable of. It seemed like there were strong people even without magic to empower them.  
'Gate of the Bull I open Thee! Taurus!'  
The spirit slashed with his axe as soon as he appeared. But the axe blade was caught by the armored figure in midslash and with a single pull he disarmed Taurus , throwing the axe far away. The celestial spirit followed up with three powerful blows. Each one pushing his opponent back a step. But the forth blow was caught and the armored figure squeezed Taurus's fist so hard that he forced the proud spirit to it's knee. He had lost in pure power before to that Grimoire Heart mage , but this was different. He could not feel his opponents muscles sharpening at all through his grip. It was like he didn't have any. The armored figure suddenly pulled back it's arm and then hit Taurus sideways knocking him far away. He then pointed the cannon below himself and melted the ground on his left. Lucy had secretly summoned Virgo to dig beneath him , but apparently he had somehow foreseen that. It had been a close call closing both their gates before they could be heavily harmed. The celestial mage went to bring out the keys of Loki and Capricorn , but was never able to reach them in time as her vision turned red. The figure moved in an amazing speed and in a second it was before her. She felt something warm on her stomach and looked down. A wristblade had appeared from the figures right hand and in a single motion it had sliced her stomach. She collapsed bleeding heavily from her wound.

Leaving the girl to bleed to death it turned towards professor Forlox who had stood up from his work station and was sweating. It slowly raised it's cannon and pointed it at him.  
'Creator.'  
Despite saying the word in it's usual cold menacing voice it almost sounded spiteful. That would end today.  
'It is over.'


	4. Chapter 3 The Creator

Chapter 3: The Creator

Natsu had seen the battle from a distance. When he saw that they were in trouble he had raced with all his speed , but he was still late. The dragon slayer just reached the range from which he could attack after Lucy had been slashed by that metal bastard. With a roar he now jumped towards him.  
'Iron fist of the fire dragon!'  
His opponent moved with great speed and Natsu's fist only scratched his cannon. He turned to kick at him , but the armored figure had jumped out further than his reach .

''Magna cannon overheating. Explosion imminent.''

With a single motion the cable that connected the cannon to the figure was released and he threw it back. After a second it exploded hiding it's form in the smoke. Immediately he launched at Natsu slicing with it's wristblade. The dragon slayer managed to dodge two slashes and at the third jumped back out of reach of the blade and prepared to use his roar of the fire dragon. Still pointed at him , he saw a portion of the figures arm opening and a small double barreled cannon emerging above the wrist blade , which was retracting within the arm. It was aimed right into the dragon slayers chest.

The laser blasts that came out of the wristblaster passed through the air and hit the wall. In just a second every single human had vanished. The figure looked left and right and turned several times , even though it knew they were gone. Retracting the blaster it hit the wall with it's left fist. There was no point in looking at any of the computers inside. All the information was already deleted and they would probably self destruct soon. So Forlox had completed it. Unexpected. It had expected that it would take another four months until it could be used. But he had not escaped. Tracking the teleport location was not difficult. Not when it knew exactly how he had achieved the teleportation of every single soldier , vehicle and civilian in this makeshift base.

Natsu was on the ground in a laboratory. But it was not the same laboratory he was in a second ago. And that armored bastard was nowhere to be seen. He could hear Forlox calling for a medic to come immediately and then he remembered. Lucy and Levi had been heavily injured. He turned and saw a young redheaded woman wearing white labcoat proned over the celestial mage. She was trying to stop the bloodflow.  
Medics from this world had soon come and began tending to the two mages. Natsu barely remembered anything. Just asking where Wendy was and hearing Forlox saying that she would be there soon. After an hour the unharmed mages , Forlox and the young woman who had helped Lucy at the start were in the laboratory he had appeared in. Lucy and Levi were both safe. The solid script mage had suffered concussions and broken ribs but with Wendy's help she would recover in a few days. Lucy's injury was worse and she had lost a lot of blood , but for the moment she was stabilised. Wendy commented that if this worlds doctors hadn't done what they did she probably would have died. But now because of their life support systems the wind dragon slayer couldn't use her magic to heal Lucy until she got a little better. She was receiving a blood transfusion at the moment.  
Natsu still couldn't believe that he was on a vehicle but did not feel any motion sickness. Forlox had explained that he had used a teleporter he created to bring everyone on a flying fortress of his design. Those bracelets he had given them had been what allowed them to be transported. And because he himself had apparently suffered from motion sickness the professor had put in extra work on what he called damperers. He gave an assurance that for the next ten years nobody would be able to tell they were on a moving fortress. Since Natsu did not feel the need to throw up , the professor had succeeded.  
The young woman named Mary , who was Forlox's student and assistant , was giving out tea. Gajeel took his with a gnarl. He wanted to be back at the hospital wing. Natsu could relate. But the professor had told them he needed to tell them something very important. The dragon slayer just wished he would hurry up about it.  
'First I must apologise for what happened to your friends.'  
'That guy called you „Creator".' - Natsu spoke before any of the other could  
'That is correct. Although it is no person.'  
'What do you mean?'  
'There is nothing living within that shell. There is no heart , there is a power generator , there is no blood flowing through it's veins , there is energy passing through wiring. It was a human once yes. A human I killed. My greatest creation , my greatest crime , my greatest regret. I asked our scouts to bring you to me because I hoped you would be able to destroy it.'

The ones the forces of the republic had nicknamed „The Destroyer" landed in the middle of the now complete Kaserid military base. The missle silos were all that were left to be made operational. The thirty class one nukes were already delivered. Soon the prince would make his claim to the world. It's understanding of human emotions found this to be foolish. That foolish boy would soon meet the same fate as his kind. It noticed that Harenfal was headed in it's direction limping on his right leg. If it wasn't for the illogical human law against human augmentation it was sure that he would have replaced his leg with a machine long ago.  
'A shame Forlox managed to escape. General Mendez was most displeased.' - they started walking towards one of the hangars – 'But do not worry. I have finished the calculations you send and they are being processed as we speak. They will be done before we are finished.'  
'Then it is completed?'  
'Yes. Our little project is finally done.'  
Mendez was already inside when they entered. He was looking at four hundred robots , made in the likeness of „The Destroyer" , although they were less armored and their faces were unnecessary complex. A helmet with an what looked like an eyepatch biotic eye for increased visuals and what looked like a demonic fanged grin. The design was Harenfal's and it was meant to instill fear. To it it didn't matter how these machines looked like. What was important was their ability , and he had designed them to be more then sufficient for his needs.  
'So when the connection is made you will control all of them?'  
'Yes general.' - Harenfal answered instead of the machine – 'Creating true AI has proven an impossible dream for us scientists. One that Forlox managed to fulfill with our friend Alpha 03 here.'  
Alpha 03. A crude boring name with no imagination behind it , given to it by the Creator upon activation. It did not matter what the organics chose to call it. Names were just extra data.  
'But first we need the professor?'  
'Yes. Unfortunately he kept a key that keeps our friend from using his full potential. Without this key he cannot connect to them. But when we have it they will be as extensions of his own „will" shall we say. An army that would follow any order without question. A generals dream is it not?'  
'But they will not follow my orders. They will follow it's.'  
'Our goals are one and the same.'  
Mendez flinched a little. Even if this human was superior in his mental capabilities compared to the rest of his species , he remained organic. Hopelessly ignorant , close minded and in the end mortal. He would never accept Alpha 03 as an ally. And it was unnecessary. The general only needed to give the soldiers it still needed until the merge was complete.  
'Well then. Time to install it.' - Harenfal produced a large black box from his pocket – 'I know you hate intrusions like this but...'  
Without a word Alpha 03 unlocked his helmet's armor to allow Harenfal to install the control module. As with the other two times the scientist had seen the inside of it's head he stared at the obsidian stone edged within the upper part of the skull just below the processor. The one thing it didn't know about itself. The one component it didn't know what purpose was served by it. The install was done quickly. Harenfal's design had fitted perfectly. When he was done pulled out his console and checked the data.  
'Data input should be coming to you even if you cannot control them yet. Ah and the processing is complete. Unfortunately there is nothing in the area...'  
'Beginning area search.'  
'Hacking surveillance satellites again are we? Well the world is nearly ours. What is the harm in it now?'  
Harenfal shrugged when he saw the general's disapproving look.

'As arrogant as it sounds. I am a genius. I have known this from a young age. I rarely found a person I could talk to for more then five minutes before I grew bored. Because of this I knew I would probably never marry , have an heir , someone to succeed me. For that reason I became interested in artificial intelligence. Nobody had been able to create true thinking intelligence. Close attempts had been made of course , but they were no more then sophisticated programs that still followed a base set of commands and rules. True intelligence is not hindered like that. And I wanted to be the first. I believed this was how I was going to leave my mark on the world.'  
He took a sip of his tea and let out a sigh.  
'But even for me it seemed impossible. I upgraded many ai programs , created a name for myself. I was rich and had influence few scientists could have dreamed of. But for all my successes in the field I failed at what I wanted to do. Creating something that was thinking by itself. Trying to act like a god. How did I think it would end up any other way.'  
'I was not only engaged in projects researching artificial intelligence. I had a small passion for archeology. Digging up what others had left behind. And one day a strange artifact passed through my hands. The stone you were searching for. When the undervault under the shrine was found this was the one thing of value anyone could find. And the one who did had fallen into a coma as soon as he had touched it. After carefully studying it I found that it actually transmitted brainwave data...what the human brain works. It had somehow absorbed the archeologist's consciousness. But it was...silenced . The stone extracted , but did not keep for long. Within a day whatever it had contained of the poor man was gone.'  
'Even if I felt sorry for him , I found a possibility. A way to use this stone into my own research. I had began to try to make a program that ran like the human brain with no success. But this would have done what was needed. All I needed to do was write a support program for it so that the human consciousness could operate a machine body. But there was still one thing missing. A human mind was still needed. And then I made my mistake.'  
'I couldn't use just any mind for it's brainwaves. A volunteer wouldn't have been impossible to find. But I needed a pure mind. Untainted by the current society. This would have been a new life. To use an old one to power it felt wrong. Using a child's mind was out of the question as well. With regret I have to say I did not dismiss it because of morality...I simply believed a child's mind would not be able to handle it. So I resorted to a military contract. They captured a random person. Someone with relatively high brain capacity that nobody would miss or care about. And then under my direct instructions I broke his mind. Made him an unthinking animal driven only by base instinct. All I needed was the brainwaves. I deemed everything else to be a hindrance to the ai. I still have nightmares about what I did.'  
'But when that was said and done I continued with the project. Taking the brainwaves was not hard. Transferring them was not as simple. The stone only extracted so I hastily build a transfer machine. Breaking another mind would have taken too long and raised too many questions. It was imperfect but it made a connection between the stone and the target. I did not use a real body for the AI at that moment. Just a powerful computer that could hold it. It was a glorious success. On the monitor it typed to me „Creator". I had never inputted anything about myself on it. Least of all a way for it to address me. It was a true thinking AI. It did not take long to create a robot body for it. As I said earlier , the transfer machine was build hastily. Some of the brainwave data remained within the stone so I had to place it inside the robots head or I risked compromising the AI.'  
'Then?'  
'Yes the stone you came here for is still in it's head. I was planning to trick you into destroying it , by telling you it was using it for evil deeds. It probably doesn't even know what that rock does and how important it is to it's very existence.'  
'As it was a military contract the robot body itself was military grade technology. Best armor plating I could get my hands on. Easy to upgrade , modify and develop as the AI wished. Although it had much information in it , it was basically a newly created existence. It was not a child in the traditional sense , but it was clueless about common sense. The military assigned a psychiatrist to help guide it. Their idea of guidance – be loyal to the republic. But Sara saw what it was the same way I did. I admit. For the first time I found another human's company satisfying. Between her and the AI I had completely forgotten about my crimes. That month was probably the only one in which I was completely happy.'  
'But it shattered that happiness. I never forget that day. Every word is engraved in my memory. One day while they were analysing our history about the creation of nuclear weapons it asked a simple strange question. I had just come into the laboratory.

'What is the best way to remove a cancer?'  
'By cutting it out , but what does this have to do with our study?'  
'A cancer slowly annihilates the organism by corrupting it. Eating at it's core. Destroying what keeps it together.'  
'A strange way to address it. But yes...'  
'Then is humanity not this world's cancer?'  
'What do you...'  
'Cutting down forests , pollution , destruction and now nuclear power. Slowly humanity is destroying the natural order of the land and that is causing it's destruction.'

'Before she could say anything he stabbed her with that wrist blade. I didn't even know he had installed such a crude weapon. I know I had my sins , but she never knew what I had done. She didn't deserve to die. And then it turned to me.'

'Creator.'  
'Alpha...what have you done?'  
'What my logic circuits have deemed to be the most logical course of action. But I am still incomplete to perform the task.'  
'What?'  
'My logic circuits that allow me to understand human emotions , but not to feel them. The merge between machine coding and human mind. It stands incomplete on ninety percent. There is one thing keeping me from achieving complete assimilation. An emotion from the human you used to make me. Even though the merge is incomplete I can understand what this primal emotion is. His final desire still lives. His thirst for vengeance. As long as you live Creator , I will never be whole.'

'And then I ran. And have been running from it ever since. I do not really believe that it came to this conclusion due to some twisted logic. The remains of that man whose name I never knew were stronger then I deemed. His desire for revenge is all that guides the ai program. My creation was never a true AI. Not after that day. For a time I thought I should just take my own life. I deserved to leave this world. But then it would turn it's attention to the world in order to wipe out every single human on this planet. Despite my warnings several organisations and countries used it while it hunted for me. Currently it is employed by the Kaserid Dynasty.'  
The mages had not said a word during Forlox's speech. It was true they didn't completely understand everything , but what they did was enough. In unison they got up. Erza spoke first.  
'We are not from this world and as such we can't judge you. But we will take down Alpha.'  
'Why would you do this?'  
'The stone that allowed you to make it is from our world. We came here to bring it back with us. If our job saves the people from this world as well , this is just more motivation for us to do it. But we will not be doing anything to the Dynasty forces.'  
'I never even dreamed of asking you to do such a thing.'  
There was another simpler reason. The machine had harmed two of their own just because they were humans. Not out of spite , anger or any emotion at all. Although this made it somewhat hard to be angry at it , it was going to pay. Also the way it was made , acted. It reminded them of the golems of their world. If the technique to make them was similar , that organisation had some explaining to do when they came back.  
'Why do the soldiers call him „Destroyer"?' - Wendy turned to Mary  
'It was roughly...seven years ago now. Alpha had just entered the service of the Dynasty which was surprisingly at peace with it's neighbors. But there was a border skirmish . An Arsein general led a preliminary attack against a Kaserid forward base. From it he was going to strike at their very core. Alpha is the one who foiled him. Armed with it's trademark Magma Cannon and a small batallion of Kaserid walkers it lay waste to over three hundred aircraft , one hundred tanks and near to ten thousand infantry. There is a myth on this world about a demon known only as „The Destroyer" that would bring hell upon this world. A survivor saw Alpha in the middle of the raging inferno caused by it's weapon and saw in him that demon. Ever since then the name has stuck.'  
Suddenly the room became to shake violently. Natsu immediately felt his motion sickness coming back. A voice was heard from the intercoms.  
'Dynasty airships and dropships incoming. Everyone to their battlestations.'  
'Impossible! How could they find us...Alpha! It has to be it! It must have known I was working on the teleport and was somehow able to track us.'  
'Will it be here?'  
'Since I am here. If it is not it will definitely come.'  
'Then we must go.'  
'Enemy has infiltrated the fortress. Unknown enemy unit is heading for the main engines. All available units converge to protect them.'  
'If they take out the engines at our present hight the fortress will be destroyed in the crash.'  
'Grey , Gajeel. Head for the engines. This unknown unit just might be Alpha. Me and Wendy will head for the nearest breach and help the security forces. Happy , Charle . Lily please stay with Lucy and Levi. And Natsu. Keep watch over the professor.'  
'But...'  
'With your motion sickness you won't be able to help us. But you said this room had it's own damperers right?'  
'The ones at the medical bay are better...'  
'No. You are it's target. You will not endanger Lucy and Levi by being near them.'  
'As you wish.'- he handed them each an eyepiece – 'With this you will be able to stay in contact with each other and it has a schematic of the ship. If Alpha is spotted I will relay it's location to you.'

Grey and Gajeel made their way to the engine room. They hated to admit it but those eyepatches were really useful. They did not hampher their sight and showed them the way they had to go. The engines were behind a several meter thick metal wall. It was strange why the professor had made such a large empty room in front of it. He said that it was supposed to be a hangar which opened from the ground, but had scrapped that idea. Still he had kept the room that way and had simply removed the opening doors. The opposite wall to the engines , that was just as think suddenly blew up. What passed through was not Alpha to their disappointment. It was a large humanoid machine indeed and it was laughing.

Maren could not hold back his laughter. He finally understood why Harenfal called it „Titan's armor". The way the republics meager forces ran from his power. This must have been how the titans of myth felt like. He would probably loose himself to ecstasy if the scientists drug was not keeping him on target. The armor itself rose at three meters tall. The entire right arm were four highcapacity gatling guns. With so much ammo he could fire them without stopping for four hours. The left was a tank cannon. It had only ten shots , but each was capable of piercing the defensive wall to the engines. And on top if it several flamers , which he quickly began to favor. There were also two machine guns on top of the flat head , which sprayed everything in front of him. It's jetpropulsion was unfortunately weak. Because of the titan's weight they could only allow it to jump short distances. But the speed and lack of flight did not bother the corporal. With this much firepower he would not need to retreat. Soon he blasted the second of the three thick walls that kept the engines away from him. And there were two humans in front of him. He immediately recognized them and laughed. Fate was on his side. Even if the general had no blamed him for their escape , he felt cheated. But now two of them were before him , ready to die.  
'Time for payback for the humiliation you gave me back in the city!'  
He aimed the four gatling guns at them and let loose their immense firepower.

Erza was standing in one of the fortress mess halls. It was still not furnished , so besides a few kitchen utensils it was mostly empty. When the door in front of her opened she grabbed the eyepiece and threw it away. She had no more need of it.  
'So you are Alpha.'  
The machine stood before her. It was just like how Natsu had described it. Armor with no visible removable part , perfectly white. Well not perfectly white. There were recent red stains on it. In it's right hands it was holding a standard rifle. She did note that it was not the same as the Kaserids. It was a republican model.  
'I am Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail. And I will make you pay for what you did to my friends!'


	5. Chapter 4 The Battle in the Skies

**Chapter 4 The Battle in the Skies**

'Forlox told us about you. The thing that think it's thrown away all emotion , but in fact is led by simple rage. But it is not too late. Wake up from this dream and repent for your actions as he has!

The machine did not move. It did not seem to register Erza's provocation. Not that she thought it would do anything. She doubted there was anything left of that tortured human inside that head. It had been walking that path for too many years. But she had to try at least a little. It simply looked at her without saying a single word. Forlox had said that it analysed things faster then any human was capable of. Alpha was probably studying what he could from her appearance alone. It would not have the possibility to learn anything.

'Reequip!'

Switching to her flight armor she quickly ran towards the machine. It had raised it's stolen weapon to open fire , but she cut the gun in half long before it had the chance to fire. She could see it had turned it's head towards her. Perhaps Alpha was surprised. It had already unsheathed the wrist blade and slashed at her position but she was already on his other side. Her blades struck the machines back , but only left scratch marks. This thing was definitely tough. She continued to do this three more times dodging blaster shots that were fired before each attack. Each time using more and more force on her attack. Even if this armor did not increase her offensive power much , she was still going to be able to damage him. But to Erza's surprise her fourth attack was parried. Further increasing her speed she continued to attack but now Alpha was perfectly blocking each and every one of her attacks and even counterattacking. When one of it's hits managed to scratch her cheek she fell back.

In less then a minute it had adjusted to her increased speed with which she was able to keep up with Oracion Seis's Racer. Even if Alpha's movements were not as fast as hers no matter what bluff , faint and tactic she used in her attack it anticipated it. So this is what the professor had meant.

'If you fight it you must finish it fast before it adapts.'

'Adapt?'

'It can produce information at the speed of several super computers...' - at their blank expression he refrazed – 'These calculations' – On one of the screen a large set of numbers and letter appeared – 'They allowed me to transport everyone here. It took me one week to finish them with Mary making some of them on this side. It would have been able to finish them in less then a day.'

'So it can make anything seven times faster then a human?'

'Not exactly. These were simply calculations. No place for experimentation , options or uncertainty. It can make things faster of course , but not everything it does is done at such incredible speeds. But reading the opponent is something it excels at. Delay the fight too long and it will know everything you intend to do before you do it.'

He had warned her , but to actually see this for herself was completely different. Even if she expected for it to learn to counter some of her armors the mage didn't think it would take such a short time for the machine to do it. She really needed to end this fast by not using any armor for more then one attack. Erza charged at him but right before attacking she switched to her Purgatory Armor and slashed at him with her giant weapon. But it was able to easily dodge that attack and the next one that followed. Of course. It had learned how to predict her movements with her flight armor. There was no armor in which she could attack faster. She never thought loosing the advantage of speed would hurt this much.

Alpha went to the attack and slashed at her. She immediately switched to her adamantine armor and let him strike her. As she thought his power was not enough to do more then scratch the shield's plating. But Erza would not give it the opportunity to find some weakness in her defence. Switching to the flight armor again with amazing speed she went under him and equipped her black wing armor. Flying up she slashed at the machine but it easily dodged. While it prepared to activate it's jet propulsion she turned in the air and reequipped into her lightning empress armor. The lightning beam from her staff was launched almost immediately. Alpha managed to fly fast enough to dodge it , but right now it had no way of dodging her next attack. Switching to her giant's armor she punched and went down with him to crush him under the armors weight. But when they reached the ground Erza was immediately knocked aside. Even while in the air it had used her weight against her , virtually nullifying her attack. She had done something similar at the Grand Magic Games , but to do it airborne was not something she thought possible. When the mage looked at her chest she noticed a small hole in it. Even under that situation it had been able to slash at her and only the armors toughness had protected her from the blade piercing her heart.

It was not just learning fast. It adapted faster and faster to each of her armors. Alpha had not hesitated even for a second before flying off to dodge her ranged attack before it even fired. It had anticipated it. The power to analyze and predict at such amazing speed. The professors explanation was not even close to how it truly was. This was close to magic itself. Erza could see only one way to win. Use the flight armor which he knew by now too well to get close to the machine and use her strongest Armadura armor to finish the battle in a single blow. At close range it would have no way of dodging ot counterattacking.

'If it learns your tricks your only hope will be to hit it with an unblockable move that can instantly destroy it.'

Reequipping she charged and when less then a meter separated them began switching her armor.

'Predictable.'

At this range she could not react in time. Her plan had completely backfired. Erza had overlooked one crucial aspect. It's body was easy to upgrade. It could change parts easily. If it only had the blaster and wrist knife it would have worked. But then something appeared from it's left wrist and she saw a burst of energy pierce her.

Gajeel and Grey had much trouble dodging the attacks of the walking piece of armor. The ice had proven insufficient at blocking the bullets and they were moving way too fast for the dragon slayer to even consider trying to eat them. And if they got close those flamethrowers pushed them back. Natsu would have been better fitted to fight that thing. And it's pilot did not stop laughing even for a second. He seemed almost completely mad.

'Come on stay still and die already!'

Also that armor was ridiculously strong. Their ranged attacks had dented it in places but it would take too long to do any real damage to the plating. And it was a matter of time before that guy remembered that he was supposed to be targeting the engines. With the way he blew up the wall so easily it wouldn't take him long.  
Gajeel looked at the ground.

'Of course!'

'What?'

'This was meant to be a hangar right?'

'Yeah. So what?'

'Means that there is nothing below us.'

After Grey realized what the dragon slayer meant he grinned alongside him. The ice mage froze the ground below them. They had tried tripping it under ice before but it didn't work. That thing had good balance. But this was not their intention this time.

'Iron Dragon's Sword!'

He hit the ground hard which caused the ice to break. The floor here was much thinner then the rest of the lowest deck weakened by the ice the blow was enough to open a large gap in the ground and the armor fell from it. Using their magic Grey and Gajeel did not fall. The armor continued to fire as it fell down.

Energy was swirling around several small delicate rings that floated above Alpha's arm. The energy Drill Solaris. One of the Creator's earliest designs. Meant to be a simple energy based drill to make mining easier and safer , it's power had surprised even him. It was powerful enough to punch through every single material known by that time. Even the armor plating of Alpha's body would not last long against it. Worried at it's potential military use the Creator had scrapped the device and destroyed all data on it. Unfortunately for him he did not do it thoroughly enough for Alpha not to be able to recreate and improve it. The original was large , but Alpha was able to make it portable enough to be used in it's base frame and it had become the machine's most powerful weapon. Through the rings it could control it's size , length and to some extend form. Right now it kept it floating above it's arm , but it could as easily be around the arm itself.

Erza stood half a meter from Alpha clutching her abdomen. No damage was done to her armor , but she was in pain. Her reequip was fast. She could change armors in under a second. But it had targeted her in the small margin in which she was not protected and managed to injure her. It was a stupid mistake. Her attention was completely on Alpha right arm. She did not consider the possibility of it having a concealed weapon hidden in the left.

'To dodge a fatal blow under these conditions. Impressive. For an organic.'

Mostly by instinct she had moved as much as she could and indeed the wound was not fatal , but she could tell that the bleeding was intense. Under these conditions Erza wouldn't be able to win. But she could hold it here until the others came. One on one it may be able to hold it's own and even win , but against several magicians it would surely fall. She jumped back and switched to her Adamantine armor.

'I will use all my remaining magic power to keep you here! You will not pass through me!'

She had a good sense of Alpha's strength as he had of her's. Though strong , his attacks would not brake through the Adamantine armor fast. And the fact that he used this hidden weapon while she was defenseless made her think that it didn't have much more penetrating power then that sword. Her shields would keep her safe.  
That trail of thought lasted for only two seconds. Alpha raised it's left arm and the disks above it began to extend towards her and with them the energy came as well. It reached the right adamantine shield and pierced through it as if it was made of butter. She managed to jump away , but it still grazed her shoulder. The machine then ran to her and landed a ferocious kick on top of her wound. Even with the Adamantine armor she felt that blow hard and lost consciousness.

Forlox was watching the fight between Alpha and Erza secretly from the dragon slayer. Even if his motion sickness was not in it's full glory he was still wobbly.

'Solaris...'

To think that that machine was able to recreate that old project and even improve it so much. That fight was over. He doubted that little girl would be able to do much against that damned machine. It was going to take too long for the ones at the engine room to make it back. And his own bodyguard seemed completely unreliable. And that foolish pinkhaired mage had nearly died once to Alpha anyway. If it wasn't for Forlox's timing that blaster shot would have been lethal. Mary was not with them. She should have been close to the medical bay. Sitting in his chair he began massaging his temple. No , these mages would not win. It seemed like the myths of their godlike powers were vastly overexaggerated. He was forced to turn to his last resort after all.

Forlox looked at the pinkhaired mage. Physically he was indeed stronger. But there was the issue of compatibility. The earlier preparations were the safer bet. If it was rejected then it all would have been pointless. He slowly went to the mage.

'Alpha is headed for the medical bay.'

'What!?Why!?'

'I do not know. Perhaps it aims to finish the job it started with your friends? We should go there. If it sees me it will ignore them and you will be able to take it down.'

'Why are we still here!?'

This was too easy. Indeed this mage was simpleminded and motion sickness did hamper common sense , but he shouldn't have jumped at it this fast. There was after all no way Alpha could know that those two were even alive. And the professor had made it clear that the machine didn't care about another person other then himself. Was it a rash decision because he was a battlefanatic like Forlox thought , or was there some other reason. In the end it didn't matter. Luckily he made his laboratory close to the medical bay. It was for personal reasons of course. He was by every definition an old man at the age of eighty four. Forlox had sent a message asking the only nurse on the battlestation to leave the room to look for Mary. His student had a nasty cold recently and he told the nurse that it was likely coming back. And Mary herself was bringing in documents he asked for accompanied by those strange flying cats. This distraction would have given him thirty minutes at best. He only needed ten. Months had gone into preparation for this possibility. Although he thought he would use Mary or lieutenant Mendez. But a mage was a better choice.

'Good. That guy still ain't...'

Natsu fell to the ground after getting an electronic shock from Forlox's kane. A crude selfdefence weapon , but it had the power to knockout a rhino. But how long would this mage stay down? He had to hurry.

'Even after hearing the story you still call IT a guy. Simpleton.'

Forlox moved forward and looked at the two sleeping mages. He could only perform it once and had to pick carefully. The blue haired one had a smaller frame and that would make the procedure faster , but the blond had more compatibility due to the special blood transfusions he had prepared for her. The wound she had received from Alpha had apparently slightly damaged one of her lungs. Nothing that wouldn't heal in time by itself according to that blackhaired girl , but for his needs he would need to do something about it. He had prepared for similar circumstances , but it would cost some time and the results could differ from his estimates. At this stage he couldn't afford to worry about performance that much. Even if it just bought him time to escape the accumulated data would be more then enough compensation. Higher compatibility was most important at the moment. He went behind her bed and started pushing it. When he reached the wall the professor started walking forward forgetting his kane. He cursed the fact he had to put in only a manual opening , but he couldn't risk that nurse finding this hidden room or all would have been revealed. While the door was opening the sound of glass shattering was heard. He had left some test probes close to the door the last time he was there. During the shaking it must have tilted and now they were breaking. This noise probably reduced the time before discovery by fifteen minutes. It was still more then enough time. With horror he noted that the bluehaired mage had woken up. She had no need of strong sleeping drugs so the noise had woken her up.

'What are you doing?'

She was looking at him accusingly. For how long was she awake? How much did she see? Did she know he had knocked out the other mage? He had no idea. His kane was out of reach too. Quickly he pushed the bed with his chosen target forward. With her injuries that blue haired mage wouldn't be able to do anything. He rushed the bed under the device. Thee bed's hight was just right. Forlox always assumed he would perform this operation under these conditions with the difference being that he would have somehow placed his target in the hospital. The professor injected the blond mage with a special drug he had made that acted as a strong stimulant. Combined with the sleeping drugs and the alterations he had made to the blood transfusions she would be in a drunk state. The process required the person to be relatively aware of their surroundings. When she opened her eyes he stepped in front of the command console and began working.

'While you can understand me...I am sorry. I committed many crimes to make that monster...I am prepared to do even worse to end it. But for what it is worth. I am sorry.'

He could see his hands trembling as he typed on the console. That was strange. Was he worried? It was true that Alpha was closer to him then he ever was , but Forlox prided himself on not giving in to panic. But he was vaguely aware that his entire body was shaking. It didn't matter. He didn't need to do anything overly complicated himself. The machine would do all the work. All he needed to do was select with which bodypart to begin. An arm was the safest choice. Even if it went wrong he had spares of those parts , and if it came to that he could completely replace it. Picking the right one he started the machine.

A small laser and several tubes began descending from a cube situated above the bed. He had spend ten years making each and every one of those tubes. They were the ultimate perfection of his work. More sophisticated , elegant and deadly then even his work on Alpha's body , which even if he hated , still considered a piece of art. The small laser cut a small line into the wrist , just large enough for one of the tubes to be inserted. With the painkiller the blond mage was on she probably barely felt it. But when he looked at her Forlox noticed she was scared. Of course she would be. Even with her senses dulled there was no way nobody wouldn't be scared under these conditions.

He would fix that for her in the end. There was no bleeding from the new wound. The transfusions had done their work well. The tube was slowly inserted within the wound and when it connected to the bone it opened up and tied itself over the bone. It would then pierce it. At that the blond mage's entire body jerked. He knew that this would be painful and was glad he made the medical bays restraints extra strong. If she moved too much it could fail. The tube material was now supposed to move towards the fingers. He could only see this by tracking the process on his console. It was going well. Zero rejection so far. It was going to work. Just the final part of the first insertion remained.

And then Mary entered the hidden room followed by the pinkhaired mage. The door closed automatically. How did she find out how to open it so fast? The blue haired mage had seen how he did it and had told them.

'Professor Forlox!' - she was out of breath and clearly horrified at the scene

'What the hell are you doing to Lucy!'

A fireball landed at his feet. Loosing all sense and reason Forlox began running , escaping through another door.

Natsu went over to the bed Lucy was on and started removing her restraints.

'Lucy! Are you alright?'

'Natsu? What's happening? Huh?I can't move my right hand?'

Forlox was running with all the strength his old body could muster. There were escape pods. If he reached one he could still get away. Perform the operation on another. He could still survive. But it seemed fate would not allow it. Standing in his path was Alpha. His wits returned to him at that moment. Of course it would have hacked into the security feeds and it would have found him. It was over.

'Nobody will save you this time Creator.'

A single shot from it's wristblaster ended the over fifty year long hunt. Alpha was vaguely aware that the Dynasty forces attack had failed. It could probably lead them to victory , but they were no longer needed. Quickly opening an escape path with the Solaris Alpha flew away back towards the Kaserid base.


	6. Chapter 5 World End

**Chapter 5: World End**

Upon landing in the base Alpha quickly headed for the tallest building. The missile silo that hosted the thirty nuclear missles. The two guards made way for it to pass. Inside only Harenfal was working in front of the main operating console. The scientist spared a quick glance at the direction of the AI.

'General Mendez was really pissed that the operation failed.' - he let out a sigh – 'I even made for you the ultimate sacrificial pawn out of that idiot of a corporal. Well I guess that there probably were too many guards for the small force we could send out since our main force won't be back soon.'

'Are the missiles ready?'

'Hm? Yes. I am just doing the final checkups. They should be done in thirty minutes or so. Don't want to find out too late that there are duds among them. Put in the password a minute ago. Our glorious princes „favorite" nickname. Was just about to send it to the general as well. He is currently flying towards the prince to be next to him. What about on your end? Were you able to get the...'

Harenfal suddenly stopped talking and looked down. A blade had pierced him from behind.

'Guess you were...'

A perfect pierce through the heart. A quick and painless death. Guess he was of more use to Alpha then even he himself thought if he had earned such a quick death at it's hands.

After the last breath of life left from Harenfal's lungs Alpha threw the body to the ground. The automatic checkup would take another twenty nine minutes. Enough time to deal with the last minor obstacle.

'Connection established.'

Waiting silently in the hangars Harenfal's robots began activating one by one. Laser weapons were still rare on the battlefield , but each one was armed with a rapid burst fire laser rifle which had enough penetrating power to be able to take down most standard battle tanks. The production facilities also began powering up. More forces would be needed in the future.

'Eliminate all remaining Dynasty garrison forces.'

The soldiers guarding the entrance to storage hangar one were surprised when the doors opened from within. They never even managed to lift up their weapons before laser fire killed them.

Corporal Maren was still cursing as the transport was bringing him back to the base. That flying contraption had brought him to the republic's flying fortress and only it saved his life. He would buy the pilot a drink. After he beat Harenfal senseless of course. Whatever he gave him made him act like a complete lunatic. He hadn't even realized then that his mission was a suicide one. And worse off , those guys had humiliated him. This time for real. Being beaten like that left a black mark on his pride. And the way the armor was being carried reminded him of how a predatory bird catches it's pray in it's talons.

The transport was headed in the direction of the storage hangars but when it came close a blast of plasma energy destroyed it. Weaponised plasma energy. Currently the most destructive weapon in the Dynasty's arsenal. Slow firing projectiles that evaporated everything in their path. Maren had heard that people have melted by simply stepping in the path the plasma shot had made after it's passing. The ground was not far away and the weak jet propulsion of his Titan's armor was enough to land safely. With shock he noticed that all the guards at the hangars were being slaughtered by robots.

He began powering up the Titan's armor weapons while turning to the area from which the blast that destroyed his transport had come. He owed the pilot to get revenge for him first. But what he saw made him sweat. It was another Titan armor. The one he was using was supposed to be the only prototype in existence. This one was vastly different then his. The left arm was a dual barreled plasma cannon. He hadn't even heard that such a weapon existed. Plasma cannons were singlebarreled because fo the massive heat. The right was the same as his quad gatling gun , but it looked more sophisticated then his. The guns themselves were probably an improved version. It had several missile tubes on it's sides , the machine guns above the head were definitely high precision lasers and it had what looked like two launchable hooks on the two sides of where the pilots seat was supposed to be. And it was flying which Harenfal had been clear was impossible with the weight. His armor identified the pilot as Alpha 03.

'What is the meaning of this „Destroyer"!?'

'A purge.'

Not wasting anymore time speaking Maren raised the cannon and pointed it at the Destroyer's armor. Even if it's armor was thicker then his this ammo was meant to be able to punch through everything. But before it was fully raised the dual plasma cannon had blown of his cannon clear off. This was not possible. It aimed and fired in less then a second. The plasma cannon took at least thirty seconds to do a basic aim adjustment because it had a large recoil. And to fire such a clean shot. The corporal was already lifting the quad gatling gun. Then the two hooks of the Destroyer's armor launched. One wedged itself between the guns , while the other punched through the armpit. When they retracted they tore the arm clean off. A few round of it's own gatling guns knocked Maren's armor to the ground.  
The Destroyer's armor landed close to the fallen. With both arms lost Maren had little he could do. A useless gesture , but he began firing with his remaining two machine guns , not even scratching his opponent. Two quick shots from it's precision lasers shut down even that last act of defiance. The dual plasma cannon was now right in front of the cockpit. That abominable robot had even lowered the recharge time. He did not even have time to curse the machine before Alpha annihilated what remained of the prototype Titan armor.

Mary was pacing between Lucy and checking her right arm and the main console of Forlox's secret laboratory.

'And you feel nothing? No pain , itch or anything?

'No.'

The other mages had already gathered there and were waiting for an answer from her.

'Well from what I can tell he was not finished when we interrupted him. Right now it is like casing over the bone. I can remove it , but it will take me a long time ... And with Forlox missing I need to check the condition of the fortress. But I assure you , you are in no danger.'

'I understand.'

'Still try not to move the arm around too much just in case.'

She went to another of the consoles and began checking the battlestations systems. Erza was lying on another of the hospital beds. Wendy had gotten to her quickly and her magic had healed Erza's wounds. Her right shoulder still hurt heavily , but she could move the arm. They had brought up Lucy and Levi up to speed about Alpha and the attack on this battlestation.

'It almost sounds like he...it is a golem.'

'That was my assumption as well Lucy. When we go back I am going to make sure we have a chat with this organisation about how golems are made. If they really need living people to...'

She was interrupted when the lieutenant who had spoken with Forlox at the makeshift base entered the room. He turned to Mary.

'Ma...Lieutenant.' - she stopped her work

'Forlox is dead. Laser shot through the chest. Alpha must have gotten to him.'

'Then it succeeded...and will turn to destroying us all now...'

'Well it is not like he can do anything immediately right?' - Erza looked in their direction – 'Such a thing will take time even for it. There is enough time to stop it.'

'The scouts that were looking over the Kaserid base sent a report just now. An army of robots is annihilating the remaining forces there. And in that base there are thirty class one nuclear warheads. Each five times stronger then the one that destroyed our capital. It has an army and the means to end us. From that location it can fire a missile at every major world capital. It already proved that it can bypass missile defences. This will throw the world into chaos and he will be able to wipe out settlements one by one with his army , which will inevitably grow as he makes more. The missiles will most likely launch any minute.' - he sat on one of the beds – 'It has won.'

'We could go there.' - Mary went to him – 'The weapons systems are down , but there are enough soldiers to...'

'At top speed it will take a day for us to get there even if the base was one hundred percent operational. We will never make it in time before the nukes fly. We should just evacuate as many as we can and find some place to hide.'

'The stealth systems are fried. It will take me at least a month to bring them back online. Do you think it will wait this long before coming to finish us? Even if we are late we should still go there. Try to end that monster!'

'I was going to do this anyway. Honestly. Leave me a few minutes to rest. I haven't slept in a week , am now the most senior officer here and am going to a very likely suicide mission.'

'It is a real shame you can't just teleport everyone there like we escaped from the base.' - Erza turned to Mary

'What do you mean?'

'I mean. Even Alpha would not expect this. With all the limitations you said that this way of travel has. If you could just make this entire battlestation show up from nothing I bet even it will be really surprised.'

'Actually...I could do it...Yes. Usually you need an anchor on the other side , but if the target destination is in the air...It can work! If I start the calculations now I will be ready in fifteen minutes.'

'You can actually do it?' - the lieutenant got up – 'Teleport this entire battlestation?'

'It will drain almost all of our power reserves , but in theory yes.'

'Well then I'll get the man ready. As their base is being annihilated I bet those prisoners we got will be willing to help out.' - he looked over the mages – 'We have several long range transports. We'll send you , Mary and whatever equipment she needs to get that metal out of your friend's arm. Is there a specific destination you need to be to go back home?'

'What do you mean? We are coming with you.'

'This matter is our world's concern. It is not something you need involve yourselves in. You've suffered enough as it is.'

'We said we would take down Alpha. Fairy Tail does not go back on it's words.'

'Your track record against that machine isn't really that good you know. You lost two out of two battles. Both times you were lucky to escape with your lives. You really want to go a third round?'

'This time it will be different. Despite being proven false , until now we kept thinking that with our magic nothing here can really threaten us. Even after having to run away in your capital , how the enemy army made our magic useless on the front line and what happened to Lucy and Levi. We were still blinded even during the attack on this battlestation. But now we know. It can harm us and we will not underestimate Alpha again.

'Well it is not like I am your commanding officer or anything. Do as you please. Time to get back to my duties.'

Natsu had dragged Gajeel out of the medical bay after the lieutenant had left.

'What do you want Salamander?'

'I want us to take down that bastard Alpha.'

'You and me? Together? Not that I mind some backup considering who we are up against , but why?'

'Charle will be remaining behind , Erza is wounded so she will not be at her best. Only you and me will be airborne.'

'Ou? You got some sort of plan?'

'Remember what Erza said about those portal stones?'

Natsu took one out of his pocket and slightly cracked it in his fist. When he understood what the fire dragon slayer meant Gajeel grinned.

'Ge-hee. You are on.'

The fortress suddenly appeared in the sky above the Kaserid base. It would take it twenty seconds to land and then all of the soldiers inside would pour out to attack. Erza , Grey and Wendy were amongst the soldiers and tanks. Natsu , Gajeel along with Happy and Lily said they had some plan. Erza just hoped they knew what they were doing. Charle was left behind to look after Lucy and Levi. Erza had been healed by Wendy and she was able to fight , but those two were in no condition to fight alongside them. Lieutenant Mendez was close to them.

'It seems the Kaserid base forces have been able to regroup and are holding their ground. They aren't the worlds finest military for nothing I guess. Alright everyone. There are no big tactical plans here. Our enemy would see through any. We just charge in. Two groups. One heads for the enemy main force. Unless the nukes are launched the second with our engineers is to head for the missile silos and try to stop the launch. Everyone knows which troops you are assigned to. Begin operation!'

Alpha looked at the battlefield from all of the robots eyes at the same time. It did not need to be close. Against the remaining base personnel the AI did not even need to do more then just destroy the enemy Titan armor. And so it stood at the back of the base. The appearance of the Creator's flying fortress was unexpected , but it did not change anything. The republic lacked the heavy armor needed to defeat the machine army. Even if the mages intervened again , there were still reserves waiting to be deployed. And new units were constantly being made. This last resistance was futile. They were just rushing to their deaths. It would continue to stand there unless there was some emergency. Then something caught it's attention. The Titan's armor radar had detected two flyers that were headed for it. Too small to be any fighter jet. Zooming in the armor's view Alpha saw the firefighting human who had destroyed the Magma cannon and another one with blackhair who had lot of piercings. They were being carried by flying cats. The unknown element known as magic. Aiming the titan's weapon at them it let loose four riot missiles in their direction.

Lucy was staring at the cealing obviously irritated that she had to stay behind. She wanted to at least summon Loke to back them up , but had been flatly refused. Erza had claimed they were rearguards , but she just didn't want her or Levi to exert themselves. And Levi had soon fallen asleep again. This worlds painkillers were almost too strong. Lucy was sure she would probably be asleep as well if not for that drug Forlox had injected her she wanted to be with them. They were standing in Forlox's hidden lab. Apperantly Mary could control virtually everything from here.

'I am sorry miss Heartfilia. There are few operational weapons left , but I want to make sure they do something to help out while they are still powered on. I'll take care of your arm later.'

'It is no problem really. And just Lucy is fine. So how is it going?'

'Well so far...I guess. I am not much for battle or tactics. They seem to be pushing the robot army back , but those things are tough. Takes a lot of firepower to take one of them down.'

'Charle are you alright?' - the female cat had frozen in place

'I just had a precognition...Natsu and Gajeel...are going to die.'

'What do you mean!?'

'I saw Gajeel lying in a pool of blood and Natsu was on his knees unable to move. Happy and Lily were both down as well. Alpha was staring at them.'

'In the end , no matter what unusual properties they possess , organics are always inferior.'

'After saying this it fired with that arm weapon at Natsu and he fell.'

'Come on now. You can't be sure that this will happen.'

Mary had stepped away from the console. The last of the weapons powercells were dead.

'That's right...not all your precognitions have happened literally right?'

'This was different...clearer. I can't think or see another way it could play out.'

Lucy looked at her unmoving right arm and gritted her teeth.

'You sure that's him Salamander?'

'Mary said that these things would point Alpha out. Of course that's him.'

They were both wearing visors that Mary had given them.

'He must have eaten his vitamins.' - Lily commented

'Wait. Do machines eat vitamins?' - Happy pondered

'No. Grey and me fought one of these things. Alpha must be inside that.'

'Doesn't change our plan.'

Both of the dragon slayers threw the visors away. Now that Alpha was found they would only get in their way.

'Something is coming our way!'

'Four fast moving objects. We should be able to dodge them easily.'

'We are counting on you guys.'

'Aye sir!'

When the flying objects were within a couple of meters from them they suddenly opened up and now close to a hundred smaller ones were headed their way.

'They split up!?'

When they dodged the first ones they exploded behind them.

'And they explode too!?'

'This is bad.'

The area in which Alpha had fired the riot missiles was now aflame. No matter what they were planning it was over. It would not give the organic meatbags air superiority. But then the two cats , still holding those men managed to push out of the fiery cloud. Their speed and endurance were above what creatures of that size should have been capable of. With that level of maneuverability even if the rest of the riot missiles were launched they would dodge them with a ninety percent certainty. This area was not ideal for combat as the Titan's armor was currently standing on a ledge in front of a supply depot. But at closer range not even they would be able to dodge the gatling guns or the plasma cannon. Observation had determined these two specific „mages" preferred close range combat. The information from the battles at the makeshift base and the flying battlestation led to that conclusion.

Suddenly their speed increased even further. The one that had destroyed the Magma cannon threw a small rock that flew past the Titan's armor. Then at the same time both of the humans sucked in their breath.

'Roar of the Fire/Iron Dragon!'

Alpha's sensors followed each and every one of their movements. Studied the circle of energy that had appeared before the attack was launched. The movement of the magic as it left their lungs. The blow itself did not do much damage to the Titan's armor , but the force was enough to knock it back. The enhanced jet propulsion would easily be able to get the armor airborne even through the push and the weight of the armor.

But the pull from the ground was too great. The lower sensors registered something akin to a black hole had appeared below and was sucking in everything towards it with unbelievable force. Switching all power from weapons , sensors and the prototype shielding to engines barely slowed down the armors fall. The twin hooks were immediately launched and they passed through the tall wall it had been standing atop a moment ago. Their pull was enough to pull up even a carrier plane as long as the wall held. Alpha registered that all the cargo that was currently below it was lost and the wall was slowly crumbling.

Luckily for it the black hole vanished soon , but the damage was extensive. One of the legs had gotten sucked in and the lower part was completely crushed. The entire armor's stability was below eighty percent. Even concentrated small arms fire could damage it now. The hooks mechanism was fried , one of the plasma cannons was malfunctioning and the thruster power was at twenty percent. All of the remaining missile launchers had been sucked in as well. As Alpha was accessing the damage report one of the precision lasers fell to the ground.

Then fresh explosions were heard from the main battlefield. Heavy Kaserid tanks and walkers had joined the battle. There was only one explanation.

'Mendez.'

So he had not gone to the capital as Harenfal thought. The general had gone to the main force and quickened their pace. He was always mistrustful towards Alpha. The AI had always regarded the young general as one of the few threats to it's plans. And today that had been proven true. Under his command these forces could push through the robotic army. This kind of situation was exactly why Alpha had stayed behind. The Titan's armor would have turned the tables around with one hundred percent success. But in it's current condition all it would do was become a huge target. And the second Magma cannon it had was just lost within that black hole along with many of it's projects and weapons. Without any other alternatives Alpha activated the reserve forces and the newly completed units that carried the heavy laser disintegrator it had developed. Losses would be above predicted values , but they would overwhelm the Dynasty/Republic forces. And the missile check was nearly complete. With this distraction taken care of Alpha turned it's attention to the most immediate threat to itself. The two mages.

'I can't believe it survived.'

'But it's armor is heavily damaged now. We should be able to smash it to pieces.'

The armor released it's hooks and the metal ropes that had kept it from falling through the unstable portal dropped on the ground. It then began to rise and aimed the quadgatling gun at them.

'Be careful! That thing fires really fast.'

The four gatling guns began to unload their heavy payload. Despite it's damage the armor was able to relatively keep up with the Exceed's speed without falling too far behind making it difficult for them to dodge the heavy piercing rounds that were being fired at them. It was firing with the notion of keeping them from going towards the main battleline , but they had no intention going there in the first place. They used buildings as cover when they could and at any opportunity to counter attack the mages launched ranged projectiles at it. Fireballs , iron kunai and whenever they could their roar attack. During the course of the dogfight the gatling guns had increased the distance between each other and the entire arm was rotating spraying an even larger part of the sky. The precision laser fired controlled shots aimed to put them in the bullets path. When they had risen above the buildings in this part of the base the armor fired it's one operational plasma cannon. The Exceed dodged the shot , but then Natsu screamed.

'Don't go through it's path!'

He felt how the heat emanating from the path that energy shot had passed through. Anything that passed through for the time being would be incinerated.

'Max Speed now!'

Using their increased speed the two Exceed flew in opposite directions. The armor stopped in midair and turned it's gun towards Natsu and Happy. But then from behind Gajeel and Lily landed a heavy blow with the Iron Dragon Sword cutting off the plasma cannon. Before it could recover Natsu and Happy had already gotten close and the fire dragon slayer landed a kick to the cockpit area. Attacking one after the other with such speed was simply more then the heavily damaged armor could handle. But it would not go down with just that. Alpha jumped out of the cockpit during the small margins between attacks and activated the self destruct. Without the plasma cannons the explosion was minor. Now flying above them , holding a gatlinggun in it's left arm and having a laser cannon attached to the left shoulder the AI unsheathed it's wristblade.

Wendy had joined the assault group that was heading for the missile silos. Her magic would be able to protect them if somehow that poison had gotten loose. The machines were not affected by it and Alpha could release it into the air if it took apart one of the rockets. They had initially made good progress due to her power. Her wind strikes had cleared the guarding robots from their stations with ease and the soldiers would finish them off while they got up. But they had began to adapt , and now when she used her wind attack they would brace on the ground digging in. It was not even enough of a distraction for the soldiers to open enough fire on them to finish the robots. If she got closer Wendy was sure her attacks would work , but getting close seemed impossible due to their rapid fire. Another group was now blocking their path. Their controlled rapid burst fire was hard to dodge when they fired in a group of five or more. And now ones with a new weapon had appeared. It was larger and the robot carried it on it's shoulder. A single blast from it melted through a wall some soldiers were using for cover. She noted that there were much fewer then there should have been. Many had decided to run away rather then fight not realizing that if they failed in this battle , there would not be a place they could hide. If this kept up they would have been overrun. And they were almost at their target.

One of the Kaserid walkers broke through and unleashed heavy gatling and cannon fire on the robots. Grey had said that those warmachines were very tough to beat. Heavily armored with many different weapons and agile to boot. They had been able to jump over or destroy his walls with ease in the battle at the makeshift base , while he was able to do little to them. This one did not last long. A single shot from one of those new robots melted the cockpit and all that was left of it were the damaged weapons and legs which fell uselessly to the ground. But it had created enough of a gap. Running fast she was able to enter the silo.

She hadn't realized nobody was left to follow her. Those that hadn't been routed or killed were simply waiting for the end. Harenfal's design for the robots was the republic's worst fears. He had made them in the most popular image of their mythological destroyer. Most of the soldiers who were stationed on the battlestation were raw recruits with little to no experience on the battlefield. And they hailed from the one of the most religious areas of the country.

After entering the building she began to look around rapidly. She had no idea how to stop the missles from launching. Natsu would probably begin destroying things , but she felt that this was the worst possible thing anyone could do at this moment. At that time she heard coughing. Sitting next to a wall was a bald man wearing tiny spectacles. She immediately rushed to him. There was a hole in his chest area above the heart. By all acounts he should have been dead.

The man opened his eyes when he felt that somebody was next to him.

'No. I am not dead yet to be seeing angels... The joke is on Alpha. I am not completely organic myself...'

'Stay still. I will try to heal you..'

'Unless you know how to fix a TRX heart adjustment desimilator don't bother wasting your power little mage. It can't be fixed even if you did have extensive knowledge of this worlds science.'

'You know what I am?'

'Forlox was not the only one who was interested in those old tales. Damn I wished I was the one who found you first. I always wanted to talk to one of you.' - he started coughing again – 'You are here to stop the missile launch right? There should still be...a minute or so left.'

With a trembling hand he handed her a piece of paper.

'Go to that ... screen and hit these symbols in the same order on the keyboard and then press the ... square button... Would have done it myself ... but damn body finally gave up on me. Could only move one arm to write this. Now hurry!'

As he watched her climb the stairs he found it ironic. All this time he knew Alpha would do this in the end. And deep down Harenfal truly believed this was what he wanted more than anything. The end of the world. As a child he dreamed of meeting mages. Even young he had always believed they existed and had suffered for it. Children being bullied for that reason was not uncommon. He thought that the wish had vanished. Even learning that most of the old myths were true had not peaked his interest that much. They were gone now. But just as he finally found one his dream would not be granted. Most likely his punishment for helping Alpha. Before Wendy had finished typing in the password to stop the launch Harenfal had died.

The dragon slayers and exceeds were having trouble maintaining their advantage. Without the bulky armor Alpha did not have as much heavy firepower , but was amazingly fast. None of their attacks even came close to reaching the machine , and it made sure they never managed to make a combination attack. As soon as one got closer the rotating shoulder cannon made the other one keep his distance. The continuous flight on maximum speed was beginning to take it's toll on the Exceed as well. Their stamina was not unlimited.

Gajeel and Lily charged while Natsu and Happy tried to get to the AI from below. Alpha met Gajeel's charge and their blades slashed at each other briefly. The AI then flew upwards. A quick burst from the gatling gun kept the mages apart. The Iron dragon slayer noticed that his sword had nearly been cut in half in that brief clash. At some points during that professors story he had wondered if he could just eat that robot. If he still had any doubts about that by then , they were gone. He was definitely not going to be able to chew through that armor. Quickly repairing the sword he charged again. This time Alpha parried the blow without trying to slash back. It followed with a strong kick that pushed his opponents back. Nimbly dodging Natsu's roar attack it turned to him and fired another quick burst from the gatling gun , while the shoulder cannon was fixed on Gajeel forcing him further back.

The AI landed on one of the building , next to a small tower and grabbed the gatling guns with both hands. It began firing , switching between the two targets at what seemed random. The shots were much more accurate then when it was in the air. Even with it's strength it must have been impossible to compensate for the recoil that much , so it only fired in those small bursts. Suddenly the machine stopped firing for a moment.

'The missiles.'

The silos had began to open in the last few seconds of the fight , but now they were closing. This opening was all that Gajeel needed.

'Where are you looking at!'

He charged and with switching from iron sword to club and smashed the gatling gun. He had also donned his iron scales to prevent the machine from immediately counter attacking. The dragon slayer had a huge grin on his face , but it vanished when he noticed that it had been holding the weapon with only one hand and that the now clearly visible to him ammo storage was empty. Alpha had pretended to be distracted and allowed the weapon to be destroyed as it was out of ammunition. Gajeel had fallen into it's trap. The AI's free hand had grabbed some exposed wiring and it stuck it into Lily's back between the wings. Donning the iron scales now worked against Gajeel as the electricity passed through his body. But he was able to do something even in this situation. In that position it couldn't use that cannon and Salamander and his cat were free to attack.

Alpha kicked Gajeel and Lily away and turned to face the attack of the other mage. The dragon slayer landed a fire punch , followed by dodging the wrist blade only to receive a punch to his side by the machines left hand. Natsu turned in the air landing a flaming kick to Alpha's head who answered with a kick of it's own that send the dragon slayer back. A roar of the fire dragon destroyed the shoulder cannon before it could fire and then he charged again. Happy used his max speed again and they began heading for the ground fast. With the mage holding tightly to the machine it could not hit him hard enough to force him to let go. Alpha unleashed it's wristblaster and even if he could not fire at the dragon slayer it was able to land a hit on one of the Exceed's wings. Crying in pain the cat dropped the dragon slayer as they were still falling down. Natsu released his grab and landed a flaming kick to the robots stomach sending it down faster , while using this opportunity to fling himself away.

The dragon slayer landed badly on the ground nearly breaking his left arm on which he landed. Happy fell down next to him. Alpha had already fallen down breaking through the roof of the nearby building. Soon a huge explosion occurred where it had landed. He had smelled something explosive , but he didn't know that the AI had fallen in an ammunition bunker. The explosion was strong enough to push him back further. Natsu was already tired. Each of that machines hits hurt like he was being hit by a train. No wonder even Erza couldn't hold her own against him alone for long.

To his Horror Alpha simply walked out of the inferno that was raging within the building. The armor plating was darkened by the flames , but otherwise the AI had sustained no real damage. Of course he didn't think that this would be enough to finish it , but he had hoped it would give him and Gajeel enough time to catch their breaths. He was vaguely aware of Lily putting down the iron dragon slayer on the ground behind Alpha before collapsing. Slowly Natsu got to his feet. Alpha's left arm was pointed towards the dragon slayer. Small rings had appeared around it and energy was slowly beginning to swirl around them. Erza had told him of this. The weapon that had penetrated her Adamantine armor like it was nothing. But unlike that time the drill like appearance was not above the arm , but around it. The front rings became smaller and were suddenly send foward. The energy followed them like a beam towards the dragon slayer. Letting his instincts guide him Natsu ran forward. When the tip of the energy was just before him he jumped sideways. He noticed that while it had extended length the energy now had gaps in it's rotation. Without thinking he kicked at one of the rings that had become unguarded.

Alpha had calculated that the possibility of someone landing a blow within the energy vortex was under zero point seven percent. Making the design portable had made it fragile as well , while it kept the same destructive power. But since nothing could pass through the energy itself it did not matter how delicate the rings themselves were. But now the most unlikely thing had happened. Something that even it did not think was capable of achieving a hit on the first attempt and without loosing the limb.  
The kick knocked the ring out of place. Each of them was needed to keep the energy in this state. With one gone the drill quickly lost it's form. The energy used to generate it imploded within a second. The impact knocked Natsu aside. The energy shock was so large that he couldn't feel or move his body. When he saw Alpha the dragon slayer saw that the entire part of the left arm that the energy had covered was gone. Evaporated along with the energy. And it couldn't move just like him.

'Gajeel!'

The iron dragon slayer had recovered enough to be able to move. With a roar he charged at the still body of the AI. He landed several hard punches which it made no attempt to either dodge or block. The last one brought the machine to it's knee.

'Dragon Slayer's Secret Art! Karma Demon! Iron Go...'

'Loading project. Roar of the Machine Dragon.'

Around the rebreather small openings appeared. In the next second a magic circle appeared in front of the machines mouth. It was shaking , disappearing at areas but it was stable enough. Around the center was a ring of rotating gears. Then a shriek left from the openings around the rebreather. After it passed through the magic circle it became akin to a dragon's roar. From his position Gajeel could only stand and take it. He began bleeding from his nose and ears and after a few seconds fell to the ground.

It was far from complete. At the moment all it did was create a sound akin to a sonic cannon that was only capable of knocking out a human. But with most of Alpha's processing power diverted to the battle and this fight it was enough. Audio input needed improving as did power management. All could be fixed in the future.

'Internal systems reboot complete.'

Alpha rose back to it's feet and faced Natsu. The dragon slayer couldn't believe his eyes.

'That was magic...Dragon Slayer Magic! How...How are you able to use this magic!?'

'The unknown element known as magic is in it's core nothing more then a type of energy. And with careful manipulation energy can be transformed , controlled , recreated as long as enough power is diverted. The process is still incomplete , but with the data you have given me from this battle it shall be perfected.'

Natsu tried to get up , but the shock of that energy explosion was still affecting him. All he could do was stand on his knees. The bleeding from Gajeel's nose and ears had became a puddle under him. Alpha raised it's right hand and the wrist blaster was aimed at the fire dragon slayer.

'In the end , no matter what unusual properties they possess , organics are always inferior.'


	7. Chapter 6 Soul of Steel

Chapter 6: Soul of Steel

General Mendez for the first time since arriving in this country observed a battlefield directly. It felt far more natural to him to see the battle with his own eyes instead of having to rely on computer positioning and reports. Here was his true strength. And this was the hardest battle he had ever commanded. Alpha had managed to surprise him with those new type of robots with disintegrator class weapons. Not even Harenfal and Forlox were able to make this type of weapon portable and rapid firing. Losses were high the battle was finally swinging in the favor of the coalition. It was refreshing. The republic leader positioned his own men perfectly with his. Just like the good old days. He could see it now. Their line would break soon and the charge for the factories would begin. They needed to be shut down or the constant flow of reinforcements from there was going to overwhelm them. For the first time he cursed Harenfal's genius. Was it really necessary for those things to be made so fast?  
Mendez couldn't help but notice that it was playing out similar to the chess game he played with the Destroyer earlier this very day. But this time that machine would not take victory from him. Just as he was thinking of simply sitting on the ground to enjoy the final moments of this battle the general received a message from one of the frontline officers. He could barely understand what he was saying through static and the panicked voice of the man. But he didn't need to hear it. Mendez was seeing it now. The drones were firing on his men. A careless mistake on his part. He should have left those things behind. They were the one weapon in the Dynasty army that had no human controller. And they were designed by the Destroyer. And now the human army was encircled by soulless machines. The general could almost see the checkmate.

Right before Alpha fired something slammed hard into it crashing the robot through a wall. Natsu fell to the ground. It had happened in just a second. He could clearly hear that something was hitting the AI harder then Gajeel had earlier. After a few blows the machine made a second hole in the wall as it was blasted out. Grabbing the ground with it's arm it slowly rose as his assailant walked through the new entrance that was made by the body of the machine. Lucy was staring down the robot who was getting up to it's feet. At first Natsu didn't recognize her but it was without doubt the celestial spirit mage wearing an outfit the dragon slayer hadn't seen before.  
She was wearing light gray kneehigh armored boots with no heel. There were small blue rings attached the the backside of her footwear. She was also wearing shortpants of the same colour .A small thin black box was strapped to her right thigh. Armor of the same material as the boots covered her breasts , neck and most of her back. Below it was a short shirt of the same design as the shortpants. She had a belt with six pockets on it. Two lines of blue energy passed on both sides of her spinal column. Her shoulders were bare and he noticed an armband covering the entire upper part of her right arm. There were symbols on it that slightly glowed in gold. It took him a moment to realise those were the symbols that were on her keys. There was another smaller armband on her left arm made of the material of the armor and boots and the hand itself was gloved. There was a glass visor on her face which only covered the eyes. Through it Lucy was glaring at Alpha with , to Natsu's confusion , blue eyes. Slowly she clenched her left fist and leaped towards the AI.

Taking her gaze of her arm Lucy turned to Mary.  
'This thing Forlox was doing to me. He was saying something about it being able to beat the Destroyer.'  
'What do you mean?'  
'Will it work?'  
'You are not seriously considering...'  
'Will it work!?'  
Taken abeck by the ferocity in her voice Mary took a step back.  
'I don't know...maybe. The professor would have made it with this purpose in mind. But you can't...'  
'That machine is going to kill my friends – my family! And is going to destroy your entire world! If there is a way I can help prevent I will take it.'  
'You don't understand. Human augmentation like this is the greatest sin. To defile your body in such a way...It is forbidden by all our laws!'  
'I am not from your world. Your laws do not apply to me.'  
'The professor had apparently worked on this for close to ten years. I don't understand it completely. If you complete this...surgery I may not be able to undo it.' - seeing that Lucy would not budge Mary let out an irritated sigh – 'I need a little time to figure out what to do...'  
'Lucy...are you sure about this?'  
'Do you think anyone down there would hesitate if they were in my shoes Charle? I know how strong Alpha is. Even Erza lost to it. And with your precognition ... I will do what I can to make sure it doesn't happen.' - she smiled at the Exceed – 'Don't worry. I will be fine.'  
'Ok I have pretty much understood what needs to be done. I just want to point out that this is a terrible idea.'  
'Noted.'  
'The painkillers effects will be weakened by now. There are no more on board. This is going to hurt. A lot.'  
Mary strapped Lucy on the bed that they hadn't moved from when Forlox had attempted the operation before. She doubted Lucy was in the exact same position as then , but the program seemed to be able to compensate for this on it's own. She didn't even have to do much. Virtually everything was automated. All that was needed of the controller were accept phases and check if there was rejection to the implants. With a final moment of hesitation she resumed the process. On the command console she saw that the tube around Lucy's arm had injected some kind of fluid. Lucy had been warned it would hurt badly and the pain was indeed harsh but thankfully lasted only a second. But when the laser began it's second cut and the tube entered it was all she could do not to scream. The painkillers were definitely not helping anymore. Slowly she felt her consciousness slipping.

When Lucy opened her eyes she saw stars. The constellations. This was the celestial spirit world. But it was as if she was watching through a window. One by one all the spirits she had a contract with began appearing in a circle around her. They all seemed sad.  
'What is going on?'  
It was Capricorn who spoke.  
'We are here to say goodbye.'  
'Goodbye? What is this supposed to mean?'  
'When the process currently being performed on you ends you will no longer be able to summon us.'  
'What!? Why!?'  
'Old Friend.' - the Celestial Spirit king appeared before her – 'Not even I know. But we can feel it. Your connection to us is somehow being silenced.'  
'Then I'll stop it! Or reverse it! I can't loose you all.'  
The king shook his head. He was telling her that it was impossible. There would be no going back. Her rash decision had just costed her her magic she had devoted her life to. And worse of all her spirits. Even if it was unknowingly she had defiled the sacred trust between spirit and summoner. She felt a hand on her cheek wiping the tear she had began to shed. It was Loki.  
'Do not be sad. Our contracts are not broken. We will still give you strength when you need it.'  
He then stepped back. She then noticed that Plue had been next to her leg the entire time and patted the spirits head.  
'I hope the lessons I taught you will be of help to you in the future.' - Capricorn lightly bowed  
Aries grabbed both her hands and smiled.  
'I wish you well. I hope my modest gift will be of help. I am sorry it is all I can offer.'  
Before she could ask what the spirit meant Gemini took her place as Aries went next to Capricorn. Dancing in front of her both of them wished her good fortune.  
'Always keep your hair shining – ebi.'  
'May your aim never fail – moshimoshi.'  
'Feel free to punish me if you are displeased Princess.'  
'We are.'  
'My humblest apologies. If only I did not loose in power to that cold machine you wouldn't be forced into this.' - Taurus bowed – 'All my strength is yours.'  
'My knowledge is as always at your disposal.'  
Crux nodded before falling beside the others , already asleep. Horologium simply smiled at her.  
'If you ever feel down , let my music lift your spirits.' - Lyra hugged Lucy before going to the others  
'What are all of you saying?'  
'Are you stupid?' - Aquarius stood before her now – 'Loke said so didn't he? Our contracts are not broken. It is up to you to find another way to summon us.'  
'Another way?'  
'You are the bookworm type who can never get a boyfriend right? Figure something out!'  
'Yes!'  
'Good answer.' - she leaned closer and whispered to Lucy – 'Such a radical makeover won't make you more appealing by the way.'  
Before Lucy could come up with a retort Aquarius smiled at Lucy and joined the rest of the spirits she had a contract with. All but Plue.  
'Old friend. From all of us a gift to you. May it bring light to your dark path.'  
Lucy could see all of them waving and smiling as her vision darkened.

Lucy's first moments after opening her eyes felt strange. It was almost as if she was wearing her reading glasses. Everything looked different as if she was peeking through a scope. Turning her head quickly brought up a some nausea which passed quickly. She could hear that both Mary and Charle were calling her name , but their voices sounded distorted and low. So low she couldn't understand them. She turned her head and looked at Mary. She could see letters and numbers around her face. The more she focused on the scientist the more text appeared. That was odd. Since when did she see such things? Finally the voices became clear.  
'Lucy? Lucy? Are you alright? Do you hear me?'  
Lucy rubbed her temple. Her head was pounding.  
'I ...think so...'  
At least her voice still sounded normal.  
'I thought we lost you for a while.' -she let out a relieved sigh - 'Halfway through you were clearly unconscious but the damned machine kept saying you were awake. And this was not part of Forlox's design. How it appeared on your arm I will never understand. It was supposed to be some sort of sonic weapon.  
Lucy looked at her right arm and noticed the armband with the symbols from her keys. She touched it with her left hand. The gift from her spirits. But something felt odd. She couldn't feel anything from the touch. It felt like it had gone numb. She then examined her left hand and gasped.  
'I am sorry. There was a biological rejection. It was...worse then Forlox's projections. But he had thankfully overcompensated for the possibility.'  
Clenching the arm she moved to get up. Most of the restraints had been undone. The few that still bound her feet tore with ease as she moved her legs. But when she tried to stand Lucy fell to the ground. Her body was not moving as she willed it. Panic began to overtake her as she made a failed attempt to rise. All of this only to be left unable to move. New text was appearing before her eyes along with blinking symbols she had never seen before. But somehow she knew what they meant. Some sort of warning. She heard Mary telling her to calm down and relax.  
'A large portion of your body is machine now. It won't move exactly as it did before. The AI assistance program Forlox had made...would have robbed you of free will. I couldn't use that on you. I scrapped together something akin to an instruction manual. It should be kicking in now. While not as good as the AI assist it will be enough. I estimate only around ten percent drop from Forlox's estimates about the initial performance.'  
Even as Mary was talking Lucy was slowly rising. She must have added something about their writing as she was able to understand all the letters now. It was strange. Information that would have taken her at least several hours to read , probably days to understand , was imprinted in her mind in just a few minutes.  
'Have there been any news from Natsu and the others?'  
'None I am afraid. But the battlefield situation has taken a turn for the worst.'  
'I need to get down there.'  
Lucy was finally able to stand without wobbling and took several steps. Only then did she realize she was practically naked. The hospital robe she had been wearing was probably cut up by that laser. If she was in her apartment one of her guildmates would have been in the room. She was certain of it.  
'Under normal conditions I would have said you'd need to rest...well nothing in the last few hours has been normal.' - she pointed at a female mannequin that wore pieces of armor and clothing – 'At least put this on. No need to give the man below such a show and besides by themselves the enhancements do not do much.' - as Lucy was dressing she continued – 'It seems not all the weapons are complete. This is just like Forlox. Touchy with the details but overlooking the major applications. You shouldn't really worry about it. They are mostly super large guns that wouldn't fit your frame anyway. Your current equipment should be more then sufficient.'  
They reached one of the hangars after Lucy had finished putting on the outfit. It felt a bit strange to be wearing armor. That had always been Erza's thing.  
'Your visor target display will lead you to the location where your friends are battling Alpha. I hope you reach them in time.'  
Lucy had noticed that although Mary spoke politely she refused to make direct eye contact with her. From what she understood her very existence was now akin to heresy to her beliefs. It was probably hard to even speak casually like this.  
'And I know you won't listen but I don't suggest going full throttle from the start...' - Lucy had already flown away – 'She just did. Didn't she?'  
Charle simply nodded.

Lucy was not running towards Alpha. She was floating a little above the ground. Mary had explained that those were antigravity boots. It allowed a person to fly for short periods of time , but the power requirement was so large they were considered rather worthless in the military. But with her new body energy was no problem. She could even reach the same incredible amount of speed she had earlier if she wished. But that was not something that was to be used often. It still drained much power and the stress on the body was immense. Even with the upgrades Mary was not certain her's would be able to take it. But Lucy was glad she had risked it. If she was a second late it would have been too late.  
Increasing her speed Lucy unleashed a wristblade from within her right arm. The strangest thing was how normal it felt for her. She couldn't feel the blade within her arm. And it had went outside easily without damaging her skin despite there being no visible exit point for it. Mary probably hadn't found the information that explained that. Sparing a quick look at it , there was now indeed an opening. The blade itself was almost an identical copy of Alpha's although her's was slightly longer.  
The machine met her charge with it's own blade. Grounding her self she continued her assault. Their blades clashed several more times , but she could feel that it was slowly getting ahead. It's slashes came much closer to hitting her. Slipping around the AI after the next slash she flew into the air. Alpha quickly turned and began firing with the wrist blaster. Lucy managed to dodge the first few shots but a warning symbol was telling her she would be hit by the next. The small left armband came to life and a rhomboid energy shield appeared before it. It blocked all of Alpha's laser fire. Seeing that the machine activated it's own jet propulsion and launched into the air.  
She did not feel confident of winning an aerial battle going head on. Even if the antigrav allowed for easier and better control in the air compared to the old fashioned design of Alpha's flight , she lacked experience. But it would not come down to a head on confrontation.  
'Sagittarius.'  
The gift she received from the spirit world was being able to temporary use the power of a spirit she had a contract with in a form that now suited her. Sagitarius's symbol began to glow brightly. Four small magic circles appeared around Lucy and arrow heads began flying out from them towards Alpha. The first wave hit cleanly denting it's armor where they landed. The machine began dodging during the second wave trying to fire back between shots. But these attacks were now easy to dodge. Lucy saw a small magic circle appearing in front of his blaster. It was very stable compared to the one she saw when it had used magic against Gajeel. When the circle for her next arrow appeared the AI launched a shot that destroyed it before the arrow head had appeared. It was not complicated magic. By passing through the circle the blaster shot had become empowered and fastened. But the speed at which this was done was incredible. None of her magic circles managed to fire a single shot. The limit of six at once was not enough to continue attacking. Seeing that her ranged firepower had diminished Alpha charged. It was going to force a head on confrontation.  
'Taurus.'  
She met Alpha's blade slash with her own. But with the strength of Taurus the machines blade was deflected with ease. She then punched with her left arm. The machine tried to fly away but the blow connected with it's left eye cracking the protective glass. It had withstood blows from the heaviest weapons this world had created but now it's armor had cracked. Lucy then turned into the air and landed a fierce kick that broke through what was left of the protection and cracked the blue lense that was it's real eye. This was payback for Taurus's earlier defeat. The sight of him apologizing to her for not winning would probably never vanish. She just hoped he was somehow able to see this hit. The force of the blow send the machine hurling towards the ground crashing through the roof of a building. There was wreckage all around it. The Titan's armor remains had fallen there.  
'Capricorn.'  
His power did not give as much increase to physical strength like Taurus , but with it she could see clearer the weak points in the enemy. This is was one of the things he meant by his lessons proving helpful. With Alpha's vision impaired now was the time to strike. She dived straight down towards the machine. Her shield could easily take a few hits from it's blaster and with Capricorn's power she would deliver a killing blow. But then a large warning symbol appeared. Looking down she saw that Alpha was holding a large weapon in it's hand. The heavy precision weapon of the Titan's armor. She was barely able to dodge the shot that came out of it. Somehow she knew that the shield would hold against it.  
Lucy flew higher and Alpha followed. Compared to the wrist blaster this weapon fired much slower , but the shots were faster and she knew it would adapt to her maneuvers soon.  
'Loading project. Roar of the Machine Dragon.'  
The attacking power had increased exponentially since it had used it against Gajeel. If it hit her directly she knew it will be the end. Even when dodging it the sound her hurt ears. If her hearing had not been modified as well she would have probably been knocked out like Gajeel even though it had not directly hit her. It was learning how to use a complex magic like dragon slayer too fast. But strangely that magic was not her main threat. Alpha was using it to lure her into the precision laser's sight. The machine had poor aiming with the magic spell. She needed to silence the laser weapon.  
'Horologium.'  
His power allowed her to teleport a short distance once. She appeared right in front of Alpha and slashed at the weapon it was holding. But to her surprise the machine gently threw it at her. And then another warning appeared. The weapon was set to self destruct and it exploded in front of her. Lucy expanded the shield to cover her and it nearly overloaded to protect her from the impact. The following kick from Alpha finished it. She knew that after passing through and shattering the shield , the blow had landed on the armband that controlled the defencive upgrade. It would not reactivate again. Moving through the smoke the AI slashed at her cutting her visor into two. She had gotten used to seeing through it , and although it's only purpose was to target her to this location and radar ,loosing it made her wince as her sight adjusted. In that small moment of blindness Alpha flew above her and landed another kick from above. This time she fell hard to the ground in the middle of an airstrip.  
The blow was hard and even with the mechanical upgrades her body hurt all over. She raised herself and touched her cheek. The slash that had destroyed her visor had also cut it. She looked at the white blood on her fingers from the cut. White blood. Pushing aside the question of why it was like this she looked up at Alpha. The machine was headed for her fast. Lucy raised her left hand and pointed it towards Alpha. Holding it steadier with her right she took a deep breath. Suddenly the palm opened up revealing the muzzle of a weapon.

The biological rejection Mary had spoken about. Something had gone wrong in the operation and in the process the entire hand had somehow melted. immediately The operating machine had acted fast and replaced it with a completely mechanic one before she could do anything to stop it. Her entire body felt different now but through that hand she could feel nothing. But it had a weapon concealed within. A new form of laser that Forlox had created for this project. Small but powerful enough to break through even Alpha's armor. Three small balls of energy were launched before a warning message indicated that the weapon needed time to recharge.  
The AI did not even need to move for the first two as they passed far off the mark. And it only needed to tilt it's head a little to dodge the third. Even if the visor was supposed to help with her aim , she didn't think it would be this hard without it. She stepped back as the machine landed in front of her. She hated the fact it made it look so graceful. It then immediately began an offensive using it's wristblade. She parried as well as she could , but the machine had apparently figured out she was not accustomed to this type of battle and was pushing her back fast. The number of cuts were gradually increasing. It managed to slash at her right leg , waist and right arm close to the celestial armband. Soon it managed to get behind her and she felt the back of the armor being slashed. At that moment she cursed that Forlox hadn't made it a fullbody armor. „Touchy with the details but overlooking the major applications." was what Mary had said.  
It was excruciating. Strength , speed , intelligence , power. She was loosing at all four. Lucy never thought that she would beat Alpha in strength. But she thought she would at least be able to keep up with it in speed. But now it was just a repeat of the last time. Even after succumbing to that operation she still was no match for it. It was going to win.  
'Leo.'  
While turning her wristblade began to glow but as she was about to stab Alpha knocked her off her feet and she fell on her back. Before she could stand Alpha jumped on her left knee on her right arm and right leg on her left arm preventing her from moving her two upper limbs. It stabbed at her with it's blade.  
'Sagittarius!'  
A single magic circle appeared above her head and the arrow head knocked the trajectory of the blade away from her throat. But as the blade sank into the ground the finger's of Alpha's arm locked themselves around her throat and began choking her. There were limitations to using the spirits powers. The effect lasted only a few minutes , depending on the one she used , and it took time before she could use it again. And if she used it prematurely it had vastly diminished effects. In Sagittarius's case it meant she could launch fire one arrow head.  
'Taurus!'  
Even only a second would have been enough to knock Alpha off from her. Even with her increased normal strength she couldn't remove the heavy body of the machine off her without it. But then the AI activated it's jet truster and rotated it so that the engine pointed to the skies. The additional push from it caused them to sink deeper into the concrete. Even if she did not need oxygen as much as before she was going to die from the choking in time. And she could feel her hands being slowly crushed.  
'Did the Creator truly believe this would defeat me?' - as if to answer her questioning gaze Alpha continued – 'You reek of his design. All of your remaining organic parts and emotions are nothing but a weakness. If he truly wished to end my existence he should have made another like me.'  
After finishing the sentence Alpha increased the strength of the grip over her neck. There was nothing she could do. After it was done with her it would kill Natsu and Gajeel. Launch the missiles and destroy this world.. It had won. She just hoped Erza , Grey and Wendy would be able to escape with the portal stones. She was just about to relax her body and let Alpha finish her faster mumbling an apology to her friends for failing.  
'Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!'  
Natsu immense flaming attack landed on Alpha's exposed jet propulsion crushing it. The dragon slayer then landed a kick that knocked the machine several feet away.  
'What are you saying you bastard? Emotions are weakness? They lead us forward to grow and improve. They do not allow us to just surrender! To claim otherwise is the hight of hypocrisy!'  
Natsu offered Lucy his hand to help her get up.  
'Come on. We'll take him down together.'  
Lucy smiled and nodded. She knew thae last part of that was directed at her. As if she would ever surrender. Especially to one such as Alpha. She took his arm with her right and got also rose to it's feet.  
'Defences breached. Connection established. Beginning launch sequence.'  
Alarms were heard from all over the base as the missile silos began to open.  
'The missiles will launch. The human army is nearly spend. Your efforts are in vain. '  
'Natsu.'  
'Yeah. I hear them.'  
Many footsteps were coming their way. Metal footsteps. If Alpha could redirect so many forces to this area then the battle was really going badly for the soldiers. Even damaged as it was if those robots came they would not be able to defeat the AI.  
'We have less then a minute before the missiles launch.'  
'More then enough time Lucy.'  
'Do you two truly believe you can win?'  
Natsu grinned.  
'Our team is not made of only us two.'

Right as the mage said this the blue cat with wings flew from above and landed above the machines right eye , completely covering it. It was only then that the damage to the left eye truly showed itself. It had still been processing data , but when all the strain of visual data processing went toit , it gave out and Alpha was blinded. Quickly it lashed out with it's right arm and knocked the flying cat aside as if it was a bug. In the few seconds it had taken Alpha to do it Lucy had jumped right in front of the AI. Her wrist blade had split in the middle and the machine recognized the energy emitting from the middle. It was the same as the Solaris Energy Drill. The Creator must have remodeled it. Compared to the drill it most likely had less penetrating power and there was no room for length or size control , but the cutting power was still extreme.

With two quick slashes Lucy cut through the chest armor that guarded Alpha's generator. „ There is no heart , there is a power generator". Forlox had placed it close to where the heart was in a human being. Perhaps an attempt to make it appear more humane. For the second she was able to look at the insides of the machine , she had to admit that the professor was an artist. The rotating rings at the center of the generator , the wiring fluedly passing by. Even the traveling visible energy looked beautiful. For a small moment she asked herself if she now looked similar to that on the inside. But there was no time to ponder over this. She noticed the disks were rotating much faster. Using the gravboots she managed to get away before his version of a dragon's roar was unleashed on her. The attack roared throughout the entire base.  
'Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!'  
The magic attack had left Alpha defenceless for a moment. And in that moment Natsu's flaming fist collided with it's generator. The fire passed through and punched through the weakened back plating. The rebreather area also flew away spewing flames. Lucy jumped forward and pushed Natsu away from the machine. They landed close to where Happy had landed. She did not let go of the dragon slayer. Alpha took a step back and then turned towards them unleashing it's wristblaster in their direction. It's voice modulator had been destroyed so the three of them would never understand if it was trying to say anything. All they heard was a noise akin to a scream. The two mages suspected that it might be close to the sound it was intending to produce. A final cry in defiance to death. Before the wrist blaster was fully out Alpha exploded.  
What they noticed first was how quiet it had become. The alarm had stopped. One of the robots had reached the airstrip but it stood in place without moving. All of the robots were just standing motionless. The upper part of Alpha's helmet fell close to them. The broken left eye was still attached and it let out a weak final blue light before it shut down. From where they were standing they could see a square obsidian rock inside the helmet behind the left eye. The object they had come to this world to get. When the first gist of wind hit it , the stone turned to dust and flew into the air.  
'By the way Lucy. You can let me go now.'  
She hadn't realised she was still holding onto him. Thinking the explosion might be larger than it had been , her intention was to shield him from it. Even if fire could not harm him , energy explosions were another matter.  
'Right. Sorry.'  
When she let him go he got up and walked forward to the helmet turning his back to her. It seemed to her that he was acting a little strange. A slight shake. Most likely after effect of that paralysing blast he had received upon destroying Solaris. She was still far away when he did it but she could see it. It was an amazing sight. After all the times he had saved her , this time she was finally able to repay some of that debt. That alone had been worth it. She saw that his right fist had burns on it. Even if such wounds healed fast on him she made a note to tell Wendy to check it anyway.

An hour later the surviving republic and dynasty forces were sitting around the base laughing. Even though they were technically still at war none of them cared about that. They had survived destruction together. In the center of the gathering , like an altar , were Alpha's remains. What was left from the robots destruction was put together in a poor likeness of it's appearance. Below it a sign that read „The Great Destroyer". Many were throwing rotten food at it. Much of the bases supplies had gone rotten and the soldiers had plenty of ammo for that.  
No matter what it had done each time Lucy looked in that direction it made her stomach turn in disgust. Before rejoining the others she and Natsu had a conversation. Forlox had been wrong. Alpha was not the heartless machine he claimed it to be. The way it fought with her. The more she thought on it the more she thought Natsu was right. It felt more of a fight to prove that he was in fact the greater creation of Forlox. Not a fight where a cold heartless creature wanted to finish it's job. They did not know what the professor had done to the man Alpha used to be to make him turn out this way. But in order to survive he had , as the dragon slayer had phrased it , turned his soul to steel. Growing more and more vengeful with each passing day. Even he had probably thought that all emotions were lost behind the machines armor. After Natsu's punch Alpha's end was certain. A cold emotionless machine would have just accepted it. He tried to fight it. In the end this was all the proof that was needed.  
Not wanting to look anymore on how they were treating Alpha's remains she again turned her focus on her companions. Natsu was telling Grey and Wendy how she had slammed into the robot saving him and what happened afterwards. The conversation about the soul of steel was left out. They had both agreed that it was better if it was not mentioned.  
'Really? Lucy did all that?'  
'That is amazing Lucy-san.'  
'She was really kicking but!'  
'It wasn't anything that impressive. He would have still beaten me if it wasn't for Natsu. Also he took out Alpha's best weapon.'  
Gajeel was a bit further away still dazed from the magic attack he had suffered. He and Lily were both annoyed that they had fallen down and missed everything. Levi also kept apologizing she had slept through it. Lucy readjusted the dark glasses Mary had given her. She had told her friends quickly about the operation , but Forlox's former student made it clear that none of the soldiers must learn of this. Many of them would immediately open fire on her despite her large role in their victory.

Mary had dragged Erza away from the main group of people.  
'Was it really necessary to talk to me so far away from the others?  
'Sorry. I don't want her to hear what I have to say. She shouldn't be able to hear us from here.'  
'I assume you mean Lucy. She told us briefly about that and while I understand that your religion...'  
'It is not about that. There is more then just religion superstition. She is not the first cybernetically enhanced human. There are three recorded previous cases. In all three in the end they had lost their humanity and though not on the scale Alpha had in mind , they caused great destruction. The explanation the scientists from those years reached was that the machine component would eventually overcome and take over the human. Forlox's override would have placed her under his control insuring such a thing could not happen. But I did not install it.'  
'If you think Lucy will...'  
'There were many different factors. Those known three previous attempts had faced great discrimination and often humiliations because of their cybernetics. Had no support from anyone close. They were hated and hunted even before they went on their rampages. Your world does not even have the word cybernetics in it's vocabulary. She will not suffer the same public backlash. And from the way she accepted the surgery without hesitation I can clearly see that you have deep bonds between each other. She will not be alone.'  
'Then why are you telling me this? And why do you hide it from Lucy?'  
'Because...the possibility of it happening to her as well is not zero. What I am saying is for you to be prepared for it. You seemed like the most level headed of your group.' - she handed Erza a book – 'This records those three incidents. I don't think she should know of this. At least not yet. It will be hard enough getting used to her body's changes even without worrying about going berserk.'  
'Then there really is no way to...'  
'Yes. I know of no way to remove the cybernetics without killing her. And I will not be able to search for a way to do it. Only Forlox was smart enough to do it without being found out.'  
'Lucy is strong. I am sure she will be able to adjust.'  
'I am just sorry that all of the information about her cybernetics got deleted soon after the surgery was over. There might have been more in there about removing it. Or other functions I hadn't seen information about.'  
A security Forlox had probably created against Alpha finding information on his secret weapons. It was how he handled it. Many times he was forced to abandon laboratories in haste. His deletion protocols were the best in this world. There was no way any data could be recovered.

It was not long before the mages had gathered to leave. Erza activated the portal stone and the gate appeared. They were still in the military base , but all the soldiers had already left. Only a handful of them were digging out Alpha's remains from the mountain of rotten fruit. Others present were Mary , the republics lieutenant and the dynasties general. Alr Mendez stepped forward and gave Lucy an object covered in his coat. When she unrolled it she saw that it was Alpha's blade.  
'Why are you giving it to me?'  
'I could say some sort of old tradition about „To the victor goes the spoils." , but to be honest I just don't want to see this turned into standard issue combat knifes. You have one of those inside you now right? You might need a spare one day.'  
All of them stared at him in shock. Only the republic lieutenant did not seem to understand what Mendez had meant.  
'Don't worry. I will not tell anyone about this. I understand necessity.'  
Mary gave Lucy a small bag. Inside were extra of the tubes that had implanted the cybernetics inside her. They could be used for repairs. There were also three spare shields. Unfortunately no spare visor. The most obviously easy part to break and Forlox had not made any spares for it. One by one they said their farewells and started going through the portal. Erza , who was last to leave , took a look at the place Alpha's remains were. The helmet remains had already been pulled out and it almost looked like the left eye was watching the portal.  
'Despite it's crimes the human it used to be never wished for any of this. If he had any family it is also doubtful they learned of his fate. I know it is much but could I ask you to give him some sort of burial?'  
She turned to the general and lieutenant who simply nodded. It was doubtful they would do this considering all that the machine had done , but she had to try. As she passed through the left eye blinked to life for a fraction of a second.

After the mages were gone the dynasty general turned his back to the two republicans. He was saying something about the prince probably being already arrested.  
'I hope I get transferred to the third crown princess. That would be nice.' - he stopped and turned to to the republicans again – 'This thing about the burial and identity that redheaded chick was saying. Will you do it or shall I handle it?'  
The republics lieutenant smiled.  
'Alpha was originally a republic project. There should be more information on my end.'  
'Then I'll handle burying the robots remains. Looking forward to seeing you on the battlefield again big bro.'  
Waving the general again turned and left. Mary looked at the lieutenant Mendez questioningly.  
'Yeah. That guy is my younger brother.' - he let out a sigh – 'Three years younger then me and already a general. And I am still just a lieutenant.'  
'Well if that makes you feel any better. After today you probably will get promoted to general.'  
'You think so?'  
'Yeah. Well depending on my report that is.'  
'What do you mean?' - the lieutenant was beginning to sweat  
'Well with the president and most of the party dead after the nuke hit the capital my dad is now in charge of the republic. A report from me will be taken very seriously.'  
'What will you write?'  
'Well. Under your command the capital was lost.'  
'There was nothing that could be done about that!'  
'Forlox was able to create cybernetic enhancements under your own nose.'  
'You were closer to him then me!'  
'The EXTREMELY expensive flying battlestation is a total wreck now.'  
'I was not even the one in command when they attacked us!'  
'Whose words will they listen to? Dinner in Clorense may sway my opinion though.'  
'There is no way a lieutenant's salary will be enough to afford a dinner in a restaurant there!'  
'Good thing I know of an awesome fast food joint there.'  
'I'll have a transport prepared within twenty minutes.'  
'Make it thirty. I need time to prepare.'  
By the time the last of the republic and dynasty forces had left Alpha's remains had been buried close to the location it had been destroyed. A wooden X had been raised over the grave. On it was written. „Here lies Alpha 03 The Destroyer. The one who nearly destroyed the world for it's sins."

Makarov had initially been heartbroken when he heard that the golem stone was destroyed. Fairy Tail would not receive any payment. But after hearing Erza's story he agreed that it was likely for the best. Without it they couldn't do anything against the organisation that had hired them. People would think of any attempt as an excuse for their failed mission.  
'I am just happy that my children as safe. Go home and get some well deserved rest.'

Lucy slowly made her way to her apartment. She sat on her bed and closed her eyes. In the silence her enhanced hearing in the quiet she managed to hear the sound of disks slowly rotating in her chest. The same that she had seen within Alpha's.

Deep into a vulcan infested forest in Fiore there was a large area covered with scrap metal. The cargo that had been pulled through the unstable portal had fallen here smashed beyond recognition of what it once was. A vulcan was scavenging through this field trying to find anything interesting. It stopped before a large container that had passed through in a near perfect condition. There were signs of where the impact had tried to crush it , but it had survived destruction. Before the monkey creature touched it , the container began to open like a sarcophagus. It peeked inside.  
'Pretty lady?'  
When two blue lights looked back at it the vulcan's self preservation instinct kicked in and it quickly fled.

'Transfer to beta body...complete.'


End file.
